Handbook of Research on Green ICT: Technology, Business and Social Perspectives (2 vol)

Handbook of Research on Green ICT:

Technology, Business and Social Perspectives Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia

Volume I

INFORMATION SCIENCE REFERENCE Hershey • New York

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Kristin Klinger Julia Mosemann Lindsay Johnston Dave DeRicco Keith Glazewski and Casey Conapitski Keith Glazewski and Casey Conapitski Jamie Snavely Lisa Tosheff

Published in the United States of America by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global) 701 E. Chocolate Avenue Hershey PA 17033 Tel: 717-533-8845 Fax: 717-533-8661 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.igi-global.com Copyright © 2011 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher. Product or company names used in this set are for identification purposes only. Inclusion of the names of the products or companies does not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI Global of the trademark or registered trademark. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Handbook of research on green ICT : technology, business, and social perspectives / Bhuvan Unhelkar, editor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: "This handbook coalesces worldwide investigations, thoughts, and practices in the area of Green ICT, covering the technical advances, methodological innovations, and social changes that result in enhancements and improvements in business strategies, social policies, and technical implementations"--Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-61692-834-6 (hardcover) -- ISBN 978-1-61692-835-3 (ebook) 1. Business enterprises--Environmental aspects. 2. Strategic planning-Environmental aspects. 3. Technological innovations--Environmental aspects. 4. Social change. I. Unhelkar, Bhuvan. HD30.255.H363 2010 658.4'083--dc22 2010017209

British Cataloguing in Publication Data A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library. All work contributed to this book is new, previously-unpublished material. The views expressed in this book are those of the authors, but not necessarily of the publisher.

Shabri

Editorial Advisory Board Keith Sherringham, Sydney, Australia Graeme Philipson, Sydney, Australia Houman Younessi, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA Aditya Ghose, University of Wollongong, Australia Sanjay Vij, SVIT, Vasad, Gujarat University, India San Murugesan, Sydney, Australia Dinesh Arunatileka, Colombo, Sri Lanka Prasanta K. Banerjea, ICFAI University, India

List of Contributors

Arunatileka, Dinesh / University of Western Sydney, Australia & University of Colombo, Sri Lanka......317 Askerzai, Walied /Academies Australasia, Australia......................................................................... 242 Balachandran, Ramesh / Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, Sri Lanka........................................................... 197 Bates, Aditya / m-Objects Pty Ltd, Australia...................................................................................... 506 Beal, Adriana / Beal Projects, USA...................................................................................................... 42 Bhalla, Ishan / University of Technology Sydney, Australia............................................................... 332 Bhargava, Siddhartha / University of St. Andrews, UK.................................................................... 431 Billiau, Graham / University of Wollongong, Australia..................................................................... 184 Brand, John / The Green IT Review, Australia................................................................................... 413 Buch, Kaushal / Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), & Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India....................................... 513 Buch, Saket / Indian Space Research Organization, India................................................................. 513 Cerba, Otakar / University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic.......................................................... 301 Charvat, Karel / Czech Center for Science and Society, Czech Republic.......................................... 301 Chaudhary, Kamlesh / University of Technology Sydney, Australia................................................. 332 Choi, Young B. / Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA........................................................ 364 Curtis, David / MethodScience, Australia.......................................................................................... 446 D’ Andrea, Alessia / IRPPS-CNR, Italy.............................................................................................. 621 Deshpande, Yogesh / University of Western Sydney, Australia.......................................................... 116 Dubey, Rahul / Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, India........513 Ferri, Fernando / IRPPS-CNR, Italy.................................................................................................. 621 Foster, Pete / Springboard Research, Australia.................................................................................. 413 Garito, Marco / Viale Fulvio Testi, Italy............................................................................................ 607 Gasmelseid, Tagelsir Mohamed / King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia......................................... 630 Gheewala, Deepa / Misys Software Solutions, UK............................................................................. 581 Gheewala, Vivek / UST Global, USA................................................................................................. 581 Ghose, Aditya K. / University of Wollongong, Australia..................................................... 29, 184, 559 Godbole, Nina / IBM India Pvt. Ltd, India................................................................................. 470, 480 Goel, Amit / RMIT University, Australia.................................................................................... 169, 546 Grifoni, Patrizia / IRPPS-CNR, Italy................................................................................................. 621 Hercheui, Magda David / Westminster Business School, UK............................................................ 290 Jain, Heemanshu / London School of Economics (LSE), UK............................................................ 146 Jezek, Jan / University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic................................................................. 301

Kafka, Stepan / Help Service – Remote Sensing spol. s.r.o., Czech Republic.................................... 301 Kamani, Krunal / Anand Agricultural University, India................................................................... 282 Kathiriya, Dhaval / Gujarat Technological University, India........................................................... 282 Krichevsky, Tamar / Wilton Consulting Group, USA............................................................................ 1 Lan, Yi-Chen / University of Western Sydney, Australia.................................................................... 523 Lingarchani, Amit / MethodScience, Australia.......................................................................... 355, 446 Maharmeh, Mohammed / University of Western Sydney, Australia................................................. 535 Marmaridis, Ioakim (Makis) / IMTG, Australia............................................................................... 256 Mehul, Ekata / eInfochips Pvt. Ltd, India.................................................................................. 377, 404 Mukerji, Saugato / University of Wollongong, Australia................................................................... 559 Murugesan, San / University of Western Sydney & BRITE Professional Services, Australia............. 51 Nathadwarawala, Jay (Luv) M. / Cardiff University Business School, UK..................................... 265 Nathadwarawala, Kush M. / Imperial College Business School, UK............................................... 265 Oh, Tae H. / Rochester Institute of Technology, USA......................................................................... 364 Parmar, Sargam / Ganpat University, India...................................................................................... 385 Parsania, Pankaj / Anand Agricultural University, India.................................................................. 282 Philipson, Graeme / Connection Research, Australia................................................................ 131, 413 Phuah, Jeffrey / Carlton Football Club, Australia............................................................................. 348 Pradhan, Alok / Macquarie University, Australia.............................................................................. 592 Rajain, Somesh / eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India...................................................................................... 404 Ramaiya, Kinjal / Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology, India........................................... 431 Ranatunga, Dilupa / University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.................................................................... 317 Rosen, Mike / Wilton Consulting Group & Cutter Consortium, USA.................................................... 1 Ryoo, Jungwoo / The Pennsylvania State University-Altoona, USA.................................................. 364 Saeed, Zahra / University of Technology Sydney, Australia............................................................... 535 Schmidt, Heinz / RMIT University, Australia............................................................................. 169, 546 Shah, Rahul / eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India........................................................................................... 377 Sharma, Harsh / OMG Sustainability SIG, USA.................................................................................... 1 Sherringham, Keith / IMS Corp, Australia......................................................................................... 65 Shingala, Chetan / Sibridge Technologies Ltd, India......................................................................... 404 Shrinivasan, Vivek / University of St. Andrews, UK.......................................................................... 431 Subramanian, Chitra / Independent Scholar..................................................................................... 643 Tiwary, Amit / Solution Architect, Australia........................................................................ 83, 169, 546 Tran, Vu Long / Springboard Research, Australia............................................................................. 459 Trivedi, Bharti / DDU Nadiad, India......................................................................................... 214, 233 Unhelkar, Bhuvan / University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia...................................................................................... 65, 83, 116, 214, 233, 256, 385, 523 Virparia, Paresh / Sardar Patel University, India.............................................................................. 282 Wang, Hui-Ling / University of Wollongong, Australia....................................................................... 29 Withanage, Rasika / University of Wales, UK................................................................................... 317 Younessi, Daniel / Global Advantage Inc, USA.................................................................................... 98

Table of Contents

Foreword . .......................................................................................................................................... xxx Preface . ...........................................................................................................................................xxxiii Acknowledgment.............................................................................................................................. xxxv Volume I Section 1 Strategies and Methods Chapter 1 Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise.................................................................................................... 1 Mike Rosen, Wilton Consulting Group & Cutter Consortium, USA Tamar Krichevsky, Wilton Consulting Group, USA Harsh Sharma, OMG Sustainability SIG, USA Chapter 2 Green Strategic Alignment: Aligning Business Strategies with Sustainability Objectives................... 29 Hui-Ling Wang, University of Wollongong, Australia Aditya Ghose, University of Wollongong, Australia Chapter 3 Role of the Business Analysis in Green ICT......................................................................................... 42 Adriana Beal, Beal Projects, USA Chapter 4 Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT: Creating Business Value and Contributing to Environmental Sustainability................................................................................................................. 51 San Murugesan, University of Western Sydney & BRITE Professional Services, Australia

Chapter 5 Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT........................................................................ 65 Keith Sherringham, IMS Corp, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Chapter 6 Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT..................... 83 Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Amit Tiwary, Solution Architect, Australia Chapter 7 Sustainable Business Value.................................................................................................................... 98 Daniel Younessi, Global Advantage Inc, USA Chapter 8 Information Systems for a Green Organisation................................................................................... 116 Yogesh Deshpande, University of Western Sydney, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Chapter 9 A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework..................................................................... 131 Graeme Philipson, Connection Research, Australia Chapter 10 Green ICT Organizational Implementations and Workplace Relationships ....................................... 146 Heemanshu Jain, London School of Economics (LSE), UK Chapter 11 Approaches and Initiatives to Green IT Strategy in Business............................................................. 169 Amit Goel, RMIT University, Australia Amit Tiwary, Utilities Industry, Australia Heinz Schmidt, RMIT University, Australia Chapter 12 The Optimizing Web: A Green ICT Research Perspective.................................................................. 184 Aditya Ghose, University of Wollongong, Australia Graham Billiau, University of Wollongong, Australia Chapter 13 Business Processes Management for a Green Telecommunications Company................................... 197 Ramesh Balachandran, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, Sri Lanka Chapter 14 A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies................................................. 214 Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Bharti Trivedi, DDU Nadiad, India

Chapter 15 Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy........................ 233 Bharti Trivedi, DDU Nadiad, India Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Chapter 16 The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health........................................................ 242 Walied Askerzai, Academies Australasia, Australia Chapter 17 Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT..................................................................................................................... 256 Ioakim (Makis) Marmaridis, IMTG, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Chapter 18 Sustainable Business Initiatives in the Context of Emerging Economies........................................... 265 Jay (Luv) M. Nathadwarawala, Cardiff University Business School, UK Kush M. Nathadwarawala, Imperial College Business School, UK Chapter 19 Digital Green ICT: Enabling Eco-Efficiency and Eco-Innovation...................................................... 282 Krunal Kamani, Anand Agricultural University, India Dhaval Kathiriya, Gujarat Technological University, India Paresh Virparia, Sardar Patel University, India Pankaj Parsania, Anand Agricultural University, India Chapter 20 Using Knowledge Management Tools in Fostering Green ICT Related Behavior Change................ 290 Magda David Hercheui, Westminster Business School, UK Section 2 Technologies Chapter 21 Enhancing the Efficiency of ICT by Spatial Data Interoperability...................................................... 301 Otakar Cerba, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic Karel Charvat, Czech Center for Science and Society, Czech Republic Jan Jezek, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic Stepan Kafka, Help Service – Remote Sensing spol. s.r.o., Czech Republic

Chapter 22 Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry for Sustainable Development............................................................................................................... 317 Dilupa Ranatunga, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka Rasika Withanage, University of Wales, UK Dinesh Arunatileka, University of Western Sydney, Australia & University of Colombo, Sri Lanka Chapter 23 Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management . .......................................................................................................................... 332 Ishan Bhalla, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Kamlesh Chaudhary, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Volume II Chapter 24 An Australian Rules Football Club Approach to Green ICT............................................................... 348 Jeffrey Phuah, Carlton Football Club, Australia Chapter 25 Environmental Challenges in Mobile Services.................................................................................... 355 Amit Lingarchani, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Chapter 26 A Taxonomy of Green Information and Communications Protocols and Standards........................... 364 Jungwoo Ryoo, The Pennsylvania State University-Altoona, USA Young B. Choi, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA Tae H. Oh, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA Chapter 27 Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network........................................................... 377 Ekata Mehul, eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India Rahul Shah, eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India Chapter 28 Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis............................................................................................................................ 385 Sargam Parmar, Ganpat University, India Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia

Chapter 29 Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges.................................................................. 404 Somesh Rajain, eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India Chetan Shingala, Sibridge Technologies Ltd, India Ekata Mehul, eInfochips Pvt. Ltd, India Section 3 Applications Chapter 30 Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS): A New Global Industry..................................... 413 Graeme Philipson, Connection Research, Australia Pete Foster, Springboard Research, Australia John Brand, The Green IT Review, Australia Chapter 31 Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System......................................................... 431 Kinjal Ramaiya, Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology, India Vivek Shrinivasan, University of St. Andrews, UK Siddhartha Bhargava, University of St. Andrews, UK Chapter 32 Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks...................................................................................... 446 David Curtis, MethodScience, Australia Amit Lingarchani, MethodScience, Australia Chapter 33 Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice............................................................ 459 Vu Long Tran, Springboard Research, Australia Chapter 34 Green Health: The Green IT Implications for Healthcare Related Businesses.................................... 470 Nina Godbole, IBM India Pvt. Ltd, India Chapter 35 E-Waste Management: Challenges and Issues..................................................................................... 480 Nina Godbole, IBM India Pvt. Ltd, India Chapter 36 Smart Software Applications for a Low Carbon Economy................................................................. 506 Aditya Bates, m-Objects Pty Ltd, Australia

Chapter 37 Low Power Techniques for Greener Hardware.................................................................................... 513 Kaushal Buch, Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), & Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India Rahul Dubey, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, India Saket Buch, Indian Space Research Organization, India Chapter 38 Integrating Green ICT in a Supply Chain Management System......................................................... 523 Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Yi-Chen Lan, University of Western Sydney, Australia Chapter 39 Application of a Composite Process Framework for Managing Green ICT Applications Development ................................................................................................................. 535 Mohammed Maharmeh, University of Western Sydney, Australia Zahra Saeed, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Chapter 40 Green ICT and Architectural Frameworks........................................................................................... 546 Amit Goel, RMIT University, Australia Amit Tiwary, Utility Industry, Australia Heinz Schmidt, RMIT University, Australia Chapter 41 Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities.......................................... 559 Saugato Mukerji, University of Wollongong, Australia Aditya K. Ghose, University of Wollongong, Australia Chapter 42 Understanding the Context of Green ICT............................................................................................ 581 Deepa Gheewala, Misys Software Solutions, UK Vivek Gheewala, UST Global, USA Section 4 Social Chapter 43 Standards and Legislations for the Carbon Economy.......................................................................... 592 Alok Pradhan, Macquarie University, Australia

Chapter 44 Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).............. 607 Marco Garito, Viale Fulvio Testi, Italy Chapter 45 CAMCE: A Framework for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation......................................................... 621 Alessia D’ Andrea, IRPPS-CNR, Italy Fernando Ferri, IRPPS-CNR, Italy Patrizia Grifoni, IRPPS-CNR, Italy Chapter 46 Decision Criteria for Green Management Information Systems......................................................... 630 Tagelsir Mohamed Gasmelseid, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia Chapter 47 Adopting Green ICT in Business......................................................................................................... 643 Chitra Subramanian, Independent Scholar Compilation of References ............................................................................................................... 652

Detailed Table of Contents

Foreword . .......................................................................................................................................... xxx Preface . ...........................................................................................................................................xxxiii Acknowledgment.............................................................................................................................. xxxv Volume I Section 1 Strategies and Methods This section on strategies and methods primarily deals with the business aspect of Green ICT. Therefore, chapters in this section chapter focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of business strategies for Green ICT, returns on green investment, use of emerging technologies in green business and measurements and risks associated with carbon emissions. Chapter 1 Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise.................................................................................................... 1 Mike Rosen, Wilton Consulting Group & Cutter Consortium, USA Tamar Krichevsky, Wilton Consulting Group, USA Harsh Sharma, OMG Sustainability SIG, USA This opening chapter of this book reflects the strategic emphasis of Green ICT in business. This chapter underscores the fact that successful environmental and sustainability programs are all encompassing in nature – cover business, technology, people and process aspects of an enterprise. This chapter encourages you, the reader, to go beyond the so-called “low hanging fruits” of Green ICT and go into the strategic, long-term sustainability effort and benefit. Authored by three of the best consulting and practicing brains one can find in the field of enterprise architecture, processes and modelling, this chapter takes the reader into the multi-dimensional complexities of enterprise-wide sustainability initiatives. This includes alignment of processes, financial, applications, infrastructure, operations and social disciplines to result in a green organization. This chapter synergizes the current knowledge and practice of enterprise architecture (EA) with those of sustainability in a unique way that readers will find amazingly practical in their effort to become holistically green organizations.

Chapter 2 Green Strategic Alignment: Aligning Business Strategies with Sustainability Objectives................... 29 Hui-Ling Wang, University of Wollongong, Australia Aditya Ghose, University of Wollongong, Australia Appropriate to this section of the handbook, which focuses on aligning the Green ICT agenda with that of the business, this chapter provides a research-based discussion and arguments on such alignment by providing a methodological framework between existing business strategies of an enterprise, and a new set of green strategies that the organization might seek to introduce. The highly experienced researchers and authors, Wang and Ghose, develop their arguments for green strategy alignment around three organizational characteristics - emergence of significant macro-economic levers - such as carbon taxes, emissions trading schemes and carbon mitigation - emergency of regulatory frameworks around carbon mitigation-and compliance and, most interestingly, the increasing demand by society and customers for corporate social responsibility. The ensuing arguments for strategic alignment provide very interesting reading by outlining a framework that documents strategies and assesses alignment. The work reported in this chapter is also based on the work undertaken by these researchers in terms of organizational change at a large state-owned mining company in Australia. Chapter 3 Role of the Business Analysis in Green ICT......................................................................................... 42 Adriana Beal, Beal Projects, USA This chapter uniquely extends and applies the role of business analysis to Green ICT. Authored by one of the best business analyst in the world, this chapter outlines how the art and practice of business analysis plays a pivotal role facilitating green organizational changes. Increasing environmentally conscious mandates that organizations should make every effort from every corner and through every resource at its disposal to reduce its carbon footprint. The need to reduce carbon emissions and decrease energy use can be studied, modelled and implemented by excellence in business analysis work. Adriana has done an excellent job of describing how this is achieved by developing the process of environmentally sound ICT practices, bringing together numerous business variables into a cohesive and comprehensive plan and address the greening of an organization from a process perspective in the overall eco-system. Chapter 4 Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT: Creating Business Value and Contributing to Environmental Sustainability................................................................................................................. 51 San Murugesan, University of Western Sydney & BRITE Professional Services, Australia Professor Murugesan, well known for his work in the areas of Web 2.0, Cloud computing and business innovation, brings his knowledge and interest in Green IT to the fore in this vital chapter. This chapter balances IT from the environmental perspective – pinning it at a cause for the problem and, also, identifying the strategic opportunities it presents in the solution space. While use of IT systems, through its servers, networks, applications and devices, contributes to carbon emissions, this chapter also outlines how businesses can minimize or eliminate those harmful environmental impacts of IT by following a suite of green IT strategies and their implementation. This chapter starts by providing motivation for greening enterprise IT, environmental impacts of enterprise IT, and strategies for ameliorating them.

Chapter 5 Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT........................................................................ 65 Keith Sherringham, IMS Corp, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia The need to go beyond the immediacy of low-carbon solutions and, instead, identifying and aligning the business with rapidly emerging strategic trends in green IT is the focus of this chapter. Green ICT is approached here as a business transformation strategy that redefines business processes, re-aligns information exchange, integrates communication and revisits the business model. Keith Sherringham, the lead author of this chapter, displays his practical acumen by arguing how the adoption of Green ICT has corresponding advantages in lowering costs, improving service delivery and positioning the organization for new market opportunities. The discussions on strategic business transformation associated with the adoption of Green ICT within businesses in this chapter are a must read for any decision maker/leader in business. Chapter 6 Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT..................... 83 Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Amit Tiwary, Solution Architect, Australia Rapid growth in communications technologies has enabled Business Intelligence (BI) to gain significant momentum in the past few years. BI enables otherwise far fetched correlations between information silos to occur successfully. This chapter extends the concept of BI to enhance the environmental performance of the organization resulting in what the authors call Environmental Intelligence (EI). Tiwary, in particular, brings his decades of consulting experience to this chapter by arguing how, for example, various ways to improve customer service as well as cross-selling and up-selling to customers can be related to the carbon footprint of the organization. Unhelkar, on the other hand, has been researching and supervising doctoral researches in the area of Environmental Intelligence for past four years. Together, the authors argue for not only business efficiencies and improved customer satisfaction, but also obviating the need for developing and maintaining heavy duty BI infrastructure instead of a lean one. Chapter 7 Sustainable Business Value.................................................................................................................... 98 Daniel Younessi, Global Advantage Inc, USA Younessi, as a brilliant, budding economist, argues in this business focused chapter on an all encompassing approach to environmental responsibility that is beyond merely a good-to-have concept or an action mandated by legislation. The fundamental business advantages of economy, marketing and social values, derived by taking up the environmentally conscious approach are very well expounded in this chapter. The correlation between economic growth and environmental responsibilities, legal compliance and good corporate citizenry is extremely well described in this chapter. Business leaders with economic / financial outlook will find this chapter very attractive to read.

Chapter 8 Information Systems for a Green Organisation................................................................................... 116 Yogesh Deshpande, University of Western Sydney, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Green information systems are based on environmental data and information management. While there is increasing sophistication in the application of Emerging technologies such as those of XML, Web Services and SOA in business, this chapter discusses their potential use in sustainability. The use of green data and information, that may have to be collaborated from both within and without the organization, is the mainstay of this chapter. Dividing data and information into ontologies has been the pioneering work of Dr. Deshpande. In this chapter he has extended and applied that work, together with his co-author, for searching and sharing those ontologies based on user perspectives on green ICT, actual use of information in greening an organization, and wide spread dispersal of knowledge. Chapter 9 A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework..................................................................... 131 Graeme Philipson, Connection Research, Australia Philipson, in this practical Green ICT chapter, takes us through the mechanisms of transforming an organization to a green organization through a well researched and tested framework. Developed in conjunction with RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia), this practical Green ICT framework comprises a 4 x 5 matrix with four vertical “pillars”: Lifecycle, End User IT, Enterprise and Data Center IT, and IT as a Low-Carbon Enabler. Furthermore, these verticals cleverly intersect with the horizontals called Attitude, Policies, Practices, Technologies and Metrics. The metrics aspect of this chapter is a must read as it provides opportunity for readers to benchmark and compare the level of sophistication of their Green ICT – even across different industry sectors and nations. Philipson’s writing style based on decades of solid authoring experience and his wide ranging industrial research makes this a unique and invaluable contribution to this handbook. Chapter 10 Green ICT Organizational Implementations and Workplace Relationships ....................................... 146 Heemanshu Jain, London School of Economics (LSE), UK Jain, a researcher and a practitioner, combines his knowledge of economics together with information technology to develop this chapter based on analysis of a Green IT implementation in an IT services company. The balanced approach in this chapter between the rapid advances in technologies and the need to rein in the corresponding harmful effects of those advances is very well presented. Chapter 11 Approaches and Initiatives to Green IT Strategy in Business............................................................. 169 Amit Goel, RMIT University, Australia Amit Tiwary, Utilities Industry, Australia Heinz Schmidt, RMIT University, Australia

Authors Goel, Tiwary and Schmidt bring together a judicious combination of intense research experience together with substantial industrial experience to put together the approaches to green IT strategies in business. With increasing use of Information Technology (IT) and related systems, the same systems also need to be used to improve the sustainability performance of the organization. This chapter outlines the approaches to formulate IT Strategies that aim to make the enterprise inherently green by incorporate environmental consciousness within the enterprise architecture itself. A well researched six step methodology for Green IT strategies, developed by the lead author as a part of his doctoral research studies, and very well supported by Tiwary and Schmidt, is also described in this chapter. Chapter 12 The Optimizing Web: A Green ICT Research Perspective.................................................................. 184 Aditya Ghose, University of Wollongong, Australia Graham Billiau, University of Wollongong, Australia This unique and research-intense chapter approaches the reduction in energy consumption from optimizing and making the infrastructure efficient. Environmental considerations require utilization of every available, known technology in practice and optimization technology is one such that the authors, Ghose and Billiau have outlined very well in this chapter. Thus, this chapter describes optimization of large-scale supply chains, almost at a global level. Transcending individual optimizations, this chapter sets the scene for global optimizations and corresponding, commonly agreed objectives. The vision for optimizing a large global network of interoperating optimizers so that it leverages the existing infrastructure for green ICT is the mainstay of this chapter. Chapter 13 Business Processes Management for a Green Telecommunications Company................................... 197 Ramesh Balachandran, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, Sri Lanka This chapter is a significant landmark in this book as it approaches Green ICT from the Telecommunication domain’s perspective. The approaches to implementing Green ICT initiatives and their repercussions are discussed here together with a Green Telco business model. Ramesh, with his years of practice in a Telcom environment and his mastery of the business analysis work, applies his skills in Business Processes Management (BPM) through four stages - Strategy stage, Design stage, Realization stage and Operational stage. Chapter 14 A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies................................................. 214 Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Bharti Trivedi, DDU Nadiad, India This chapter describes an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS) that can be applied in practice by a green business. Trivedi’s doctoral research has produced a five-step methodology for implementing this ERBS – Need for reengineering the business architecture, Map and investigate the processes, Design ERBS, Implement reengineered process and employ ERBS and improve continu-

ously to monetize emissions. Each step leads to an improved understanding of the required Green policies and processes related to waste and emissions, enablement of efficient use of resources and metrics for monitoring the results. Chapter 15 Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy........................ 233 Bharti Trivedi, DDU Nadiad, India Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia This chapter builds on an earlier work reported by Trivedi in the Handbook of Research in Mobile Business, 2nd Edition. An Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS) can incorporate mobile technologies to help reduce physical movement of men and materials and also improve the recycling of electronic waste. A collaborative business “ecosystem” that capitalizes on mobile communications needs to be carefully studied to identify the precise contributors to green house emissions. This chapter expands the role of mobile technologies in creating and enhancing an ERBS. Chapter 16 The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health........................................................ 242 Walied Askerzai, Academies Australasia, Australia This well written chapter authored by Askerzai, amidst trying circumstances, is an ideal discussion worth reading in the area of ICT waste on environment and health. The ICT tools that cause the greenhouse gases can also be used to reduce their negative effect through proper design and implementation of systems. This chapter argues for the use of such systems and encourages us, the readers, to shy away from the philosophies of ‘profit maximization’. Chapter 17 Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT..................................................................................................................... 256 Ioakim (Makis) Marmaridis, IMTG, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are subjected to the same fierce competitiveness that their larger counterparts are. This chapter argues for SMEs to formulate and implement their Green IT practice that will not only reduce their carbon footprint but also increase their market reach. This chapter also acknowledges the challenge of implementing Green ICT practices in SMEs because of their smaller size and, therefore, limited resources. Based on the research undertaken by Marmaridis in his doctoral studies, this chapter contains description of the use of collaboration in Green ICT improvements. People, process and technology framework is used as a basis for this adoption and transition. Chapter 18 Sustainable Business Initiatives in the Context of Emerging Economies........................................... 265 Jay (Luv) M. Nathadwarawala, Cardiff University Business School, UK Kush M. Nathadwarawala, Imperial College Business School, UK

These two young professionals from the UK and India have explored the concept of Green ICT in the context of the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). These considerations to the economies and industries in which organizations exist is crucial in improving their sustainability and have been addressed as such. The authors have uniquely identified the factors influencing the undertaking of environmental considerations by businesses in developing nations. Furthermore, the differences in developed versus developing economies in terms of their environmental outlook are very well explored in this chapter. These differences arise due to the lack of infrastructure and the potential for huge growth in the developing markets. This chapter outlines and discusses issues and challenges related to implementing green concepts in emerging economies, corresponding measures and also proposes an approach to ameliorating the challenges. Chapter 19 Digital Green ICT: Enabling Eco-Efficiency and Eco-Innovation...................................................... 282 Krunal Kamani, Anand Agricultural University, India Dhaval Kathiriya, Gujarat Technological University, India Paresh Virparia, Sardar Patel University, India Pankaj Parsania, Anand Agricultural University, India Efficiency and innovation, the hallmarks of a great business, are explored in this chapter in the context of the environment. These authors explore business efficiency and innovations by considering various factors such as reduction of hazardous components, maximization of energy efficiency, enhancing recyclability and biodegradability. The mix of people, networks, hardware and software that make up the IT systems and the way they are used in organizations is also studied from eco-efficiency viewpoint. Furthermore, this chapter covers issues such as the increase in energy consumption and its impact on both business and the environment, and ensuring user satisfaction without damaging the ecosystem. Chapter 20 Using Knowledge Management Tools in Fostering Green ICT Related Behavior Change................ 290 Magda David Hercheui, Westminster Business School, UK Hercheui reports on an excellent study on energy management and efficiency that would bring about a behaviour change. Microsoft Hohm, an Internet tool, is used in this chapter to demonstrate the concept of designing and implementing Green ICT solutions that combine tacit and explicit knowledge, and reduce the complexity in managing information on sustainability. This chapter also discusses the combination of sophisticated Green ICT interfaces with social media solutions to create an interesting display of virtual socialization. While this chapter can easily fit into the social section of this handbook, it is also a strategic chapter and hence included in this section. Section 2 Technologies The technologies that come into play, especially when large organizations transition to Green ICT, are discussed in this section. Hardware, networks, data centres and related softwares are part of discussion in this section.

Chapter 21 Enhancing the Efficiency of ICT by Spatial Data Interoperability...................................................... 301 Otakar Cerba,University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic Karel Charvat, Czech Center for Science and Society, Czech Republic Jan Jezek, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic Stepan Kafka, Help Service – Remote Sensing spol. s.r.o., Czech Republic This opening chapter of the Technological section of this handbook discusses an interesting topic of interoperability of green spatial data and its impact on reducing the overall carbon emissions of an organization. Such data is based on a specific location or geographic area and includes digital maps, car navigation tools and mobile gadgets that bring together otherwise disparate sources of information. The need to understand the costs associated with management of this data, its maintainence, upgrade and distribution is important and is addressed here. So also is the need to correlate otherwise hidden information in these suite of data including metadata, schema languages and ontologies. These are some of the very interesting discussions appearing in this very well written chapter. Chapter 22 Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry for Sustainable Development............................................................................................................... 317 Dilupa Ranatunga, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka Rasika Withanage, University of Wales, UK Dinesh Arunatileka, University of Western Sydney, Australia & University of Colombo, Sri Lanka This is yet another interesting chapter that discusses Green ICT challenges from a Telecommunications viewpoint. The authors, veteran researchers as well as practitioners, have judiciously brought together their knowledge and experience in the Telecommunications domain to discuss the challenges faced by network operators in relation to their greenhouse gas emissions. The authors further describe how these operators could operate in a holistic manner to reduce those emissions. Addressing the issues related to the telecom infrastructure is a unique feature of this chapter. Chapter 23 Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management . .......................................................................................................................... 332 Ishan Bhalla, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Kamlesh Chaudhary, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Green ICT is a vast area of discussion and this chapter addresses it from a traffic management viewpoint. The arguments by Bhalla and Chaudhary is that an astutely managed traffic system will invariably reduce carbon emissions. As such, they discuss their Traffic Management System (TMS) on the basis of its green credentials. Emerging technologies such as Cloud computing, Service Oriented Architecture and the use of WiMax are included in this discussion.

Volume II Chapter 24 An Australian Rules Football Club Approach To Green ICT.............................................................. 348 Jeffrey Phuah, Carlton Football Club, Australia Like the previous chapter that approached a unique and specific domain, this chapter also approaches Green ICT from the point of view of implementing it in the sports domain. As such, author Phuah, a veteran IT manager as well as a scholar, outlines his views as well as his approach in this chapter with regards to implementing Green ICT in the Australian Rules football industry. This chapter is unique in the sense that it delves into the sports area from an environmental perspective – highlighting not only the direct but the spin-off benefits of goodwill and indirect marketing resulting from implementing Green ICT in sports. Chapter 25 Environmental Challenges in Mobile Services.................................................................................... 355 Amit Lingarchani, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Mobile technologies and, especially services associated with and through mobile technologies, need immediate attention from an environmental perspective. Lingarchani develops his arguments by first outlining the use of mobile services and then describing the environmental challenges around their use. The author further outlines what can be done in terms of reducing carbon emissions in mobile services. Chapter 26 A Taxonomy of Green Information and Communications Protocols and Standards........................... 364 Jungwoo Ryoo, The Pennsylvania State University-Altoona, USA Young B. Choi, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA Tae H. Oh, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA Like all information and communications systems, the Green systems are also made up of numerous elements. These elements may not be always compatible and so would result in energy loss. Authors Ryoo, Choi and Oh bring together their research expertise in this very well written chapter to address the issue of optimal operational states within Green ICT systems based on their taxonomy of such systems. Interoperability of the existing green ICT protocols and discussions on emerging governing bodies of green ICT protocols are the highlights of this chapter. Chapter 27 Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network........................................................... 377 Ekata Mehul, eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India Rahul Shah, eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India This chapter describes a comprehensive Energy Management System with particular emphasis on Electrical Energy. Ekata and Rahul are both practitioners from the industry who also have a research bent of

mind. They describe this EMS that is based on wireless sensor network & standard protocols. Furthermore, metering, an important element of any EMS, is also described in this chapter keeping automation in mind. The design of the system together with its development and usage is described in this chapter. Chapter 28 Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis............................................................................................................................ 385 Sargam Parmar, Ganpat University, India Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Parmar, with his intense model building experience, creates in this chapter an excellent model of Environmentally Intelligent (EI) applications based on Independent Component Analysis (ICA). The collection, analysis and reporting of environmental data related to the organization is described and enhanced through the analysis potential offered by the ICA algorithm – an algorithm which Parmar has been using and developing further over the last few years as part of his higher degree research. While ICA itself has been used in several fields of interest such as airlines and hospitals, this chapter uniquely demonstrates its application in a multivariate time series such as a CO2 emission from fossil fuel for the period 1950 to 2006. A statistically intense chapter, the description here is a linear mapping of the observed multivariate time series into a new space of statistically independent components (ICs) that might reveal driving mechanisms for CO2 emissions that may otherwise remain hidden. Chapter 29 Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges.................................................................. 404 Somesh Rajain, eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India Chetan Shingala, Sibridge Technologies Ltd, India Ekata Mehul, eInfochips Pvt. Ltd, India This is a hardware specific chapter that describe the development of semiconductors in a way that will reduce their carbon emissions when in use. These semiconductors are embedded in various devices and home applications. Approaching the carbon challenge from a micro, hardware aspect of these devices is a unique approach taken in this chapter by Chetan and Ekata. The designs discussed here are aimed at low power consumption of the basic semiconductor so that all other devices that are embedded with this semiconductor will, in turn, reduce their emissions. As the authors right argue, the designer may often neglect the implementation of power saving techniques due to the tradeoff between power reduction and verification costs. Thus, in order to save costs, power consumption may be allowed to increase from a design viewpoint. This chapter describes low power design techniques, its verification challenges and its solutions followed by the case study. Finally, there is a discussion on selection of programmable device & RTL Core design criteria.

Section 3 Applications This section is focused on information systems and applications that can be used by organizations to measure, monitor and mitigate their carbon emissions. This section has an information systems bend rather than that of pure information technology. In addition to usage of the applications, there is also a discussion on the methodology for their development. Chapter 30 Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS): A New Global Industry..................................... 413 Graeme Philipson, Connection Research, Australia Pete Foster, Springboard Research, Australia John Brand, The Green IT Review, Australia This opening chapter in this section, by veteran author Philipson together with co-authors Foster and Brandt, deals directly with the available Carbon Emission Management Software (CEMS) packages, their taxonomy and their application in practice. The authors describe the evolution of CEMS, the available CEMS in the market and the manner in which they can be put to use in practice. Chapter 31 Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System......................................................... 431 Kinjal Ramaiya, Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology, India Vivek Shrinivasan, University of St. Andrews, UK Siddhartha Bhargava, University of St. Andrews, UK This chapter, by the three upcoming developers and managers, describes the design aspects of a Green ICT system. Making use of emerging technologies of Cloud computing, Web 2.0, Service Oriented Architecture and Mobile technologies, the authors describe their design of a Green ICT system that can be developed and implemented in practice. The discussions in this chapter include issues of software architecture, design, databases, hardware and related infrastructure. Finally attitudes and policies of decision makers and how they be positively supported through Green IT systems is also discussed here. Chapter 32 Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks...................................................................................... 446 David Curtis, MethodScience, Australia Amit Lingarchani, MethodScience, Australia Enterprise Architecture is a popular phrase today that encompasses business, information, system and technology. These architectural layers are described here by Curtis and Lingarchani as a fundamental means to influence the environmental performance of the organization. The long term planning, development and management of an organisation’s ICT environment through the framework of a green Enterprise Architecture is the unique feature of this chapter.

Chapter 33 Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice............................................................ 459 Vu Long Tran, Springboard Research, Australia Tran, as both a practitioner and a researcher, categorises the Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS) into relevant parts – the detailed software application, the custom-built spreadsheets and the customized and/or manual methods. This categorization is followed by a comparative analysis of the various advantages and limitations of each of these tools. Finally, this chapter outlines the ways in which the CEMS software can be practically used in organisations. Challenges related to configuring and implementing the software are discussed from a practical viewpoint. Chapter 34 Green Health: The Green IT Implications for Healthcare Related Businesses.................................... 470 Nina Godbole, IBM India Pvt. Ltd, India The application of green IT in Healthcare is the mainstay of this unique chapter. Written by a veteran researcher, practitioner and author, this chapter describe the application of green IT in hospitals, pharmacies, insurance, health administration and related supporting services. Godbole, with her consulting experience, highlights the issues related to the environment in healthcare, compares it with other sectors, discusses the stakeholders involved and outlines the relative size of the carbon footprint generated in the sector. Chapter 35 E-Waste Management: Challenges and Issues..................................................................................... 480 Nina Godbole, IBM India Pvt. Ltd, India This second important chapter authored by Godbole in this book approaches the problem of Electronic Waste (e-Waste) within the organization. The unabated rise in e-Waste is highlighted here as a major problem globally that environmentally conscious businesses will have to handle – from both regulatory and business viewpoints. This chapter describes the e-Waste problem, the challenges and issues involved in handling the problem and a full life-cycle approach within a policy framework for effective e-Waste management. Chapter 36 Smart Software Applications for a Low Carbon Economy................................................................. 506 Aditya Bates, m-Objects Pty Ltd, Australia This chapter describes software applications that can be extended and applied in organizations to reduce their carbon footprint. Bates, as an early researcher, nicely summarizes the intelligent infrastructure for the new energy management systems and the various standards bodies and user groups that are involved in the development of these systems. The smart grid infrastructure, software applications that ride on the infrastructure and control points for those software applications are part of the discussion in this chapter.

Chapter 37 Low Power Techniques for Greener Hardware.................................................................................... 513 Kaushal Buch, Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), & Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India Rahul Dubey, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, India Saket Buch, Indian Space Research Organization, India This is another important chapter in this section that discusses the hardware aspect of green ICT. The need to focus on architecture and design aspect of hardware to ensure energy efficiency of the fundmanetal element of any device is the mainstay of this chapter. By doing so, the authors Buch, Dubey and Buch argue, the power utilization of the computing aspect of the device is reduced. Further studies in this area are also alluded to in this chapter. Chapter 38 Integrating Green ICT in a Supply Chain Management System......................................................... 523 Bhuvan Unhelkar, University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Yi-Chen Lan, University of Western Sydney, Australia This chapter is based on the premise that in order for organizations to demonstrate their green consciousness they need to focus on the complete and integrated supply chain across multiple organizations. Thus, the Green Integrated Supply Chain Management (GISCM), discussed in this chapter, brings together various stakeholders in the supply chain within and outside the organization to help the organization improve its environmental credentials. Prof. Lan is well known for his previous work in supply chain systems and here, together with the co-author, he has expanded his previous work to help organizations improve their environmental bottom line. The discussions in this chapter include environmentally-conscious suppliers, customers, regulatory authorities and employees at all levels in an organization. Furthermore, the fundamentals of competition in any business are now converted and applied to green business through its SCM. Thus, this chapter proposes a fundamental framework for creating and analyzing GISCM solutions. Chapter 39 Application of a Composite Process Framework for Managing Green ICT Applications Development ................................................................................................................. 535 Mohammed Maharmeh, University of Western Sydney, Australia Zahra Saeed, University of Technology Sydney, Australia This is a chapter focused on the methodology aspect of software development that will invariably find application in a Green ICT development. The argument of a Composite Process Framework that includes waterfall at one end and an Agile approach at the other, simultaneously, for Green ICT Applications Development is the main focus of this chapter. The chapter explains and provides details on what comprises a Composite Processes Framework and how it can be applied to develop a Green ICT application.

Chapter 40 Green Enterprise Architecture Framework.......................................................................................... 546 Amit Goel, RMIT University, Australia Amit Tiwary, Utility Industry, Australia Heinz Schmidt, RMIT University, Australia Extending the concept of Enterprise Architecture to a Green enterprise has already been discussed in couple of earlier chapters in this handbook. This chapter, authored by experienced enterprise architects from the industry coupled with researchers, proposes the enterprise architecture framework and mathematical model as a dynamic model for total sustainability. A brief description of currently popular Green ICT Metrics in practice is presented in this chapter together with a discussion of architectural frameworks providing three different architecture layers and a roadmap to achieve desirable “total sustainability indicator (TSI™) - a measurement framework based on mathematical models and game theory. Chapter 41 Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities.......................................... 559 Saugato Mukerji, University of Wollongong, Australia Aditya K. Ghose, University of Wollongong, Australia This chapter approaches the topic of Green Supply Chains from a measurement and audit viewpoint. Green ICT, as described here, is considered here as a enabling technology that detects and prevents process inefficiency of energy intensive supply chains. This chapter, by Mukerji and Ghose, is a must read in order to understand optimizations and audits of an organization’s supply chains to improve its efficiency and limit its carbon generation. Chapter 42 Understanding the Context of Green ICT............................................................................................ 581 Deepa Gheewala, Misys Software Solutions, UK Vivek Gheewala, UST Global, USA Parikh and Parikh take a simple yet important contextual view of the importance of Green ICT in this chapter. The authors describe the operation of ICT at systems and applications level; at the end-user level through the desktops and printers; and at the enterprise level through its data centers, servers and other infrastructure. The issues discussed in this chapter include hardware and software implementations, infrastructures, attitudes and policies of decision makers, and how they influence global warming. The context of Green ICT is thus very well set in this chapter.

Section 4 Social Discussion on the social aspect of Green ICT is vital for the overall success of environmentally conscious effort of the business world. These social aspects of Green ICT are the “soft” aspects that are often relegated to the background while the business leaders focus on hard metrics, technologies and applications to reduce carbon emissions. However, the legal, social and motivational aspect of Green ICT, as discussed in these ensuing chapters, should be considered an important element of the overall green strategy of the organization. Chapter 43 Standards and Legislations for the Carbon Economy.......................................................................... 592 Alok Pradhan, Macquarie University, Australia The Australian government’s initiative through the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) finds an erudite discussion in this chapter. Pradhan, as an emerging sustainability champion, discusses the need to not only comply with Australian CPRS but use it honestly to actually bring down the national emission levels. This chapter includes discussions on the Kyoto and Copenhagen summits, the ISO 14001 standard, Predictive Emissions Monitoring Systems (PEMS) and Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (yet another CEMS). The sensitive nature of online carbon trading applications is also very well alluded to in this chapter – making it a unique feature in this book. Chapter 44 Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).............. 607 Marco Garito, Viale Fulvio Testi, Italy Garito, with his previous authoring experience and his practical consulting work, discusses the sociocultural aspects of Green ICT in this chapter. Starting with the climate change discussions in 2007 (Kyoto protocol), the author presents to challenges and impact of soft issues, such as the social pressure on organizations to create a non polluting image with respect to the environment. Adoption of a green ICT program is discussed by Garito has an excellent opportunity to revamp the overall business processes and solutions. Finally, the change of behaviour that is brought about by individuals through personal effort is also highlighted in this chapter. Chapter 45 CAMCE: A Framework for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation......................................................... 621 Alessia D’ Andrea, IRPPS-CNR, Italy Fernando Ferri, IRPPS-CNR, Italy Patrizia Grifoni, IRPPS-CNR, Italy The need and the opportunity for individuals and organizations to collaborate on a global scale is tremendous. Authors D’Andrea, Ferri and Grifoni take us through these opportunities for global collaboration through the technologies of web-based collaborations – but from an environmental perspectives.

Thus, the authors highlight the opportunities for decision support and program management that can be applied for climate adaptation. Furthermore, the authors also open up opportunities to bring together experts, stakeholders, decision-makers and overall citizens on a common web-enabled platform for education and carbon reduction. Chapter 46 Decision Criteria for Green Management Information Systems......................................................... 630 Tagelsir Mohamed Gasmelseid, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia Decision support systems provide businesses with the opportunity to take timely and accurate decisions in the face of changing external and internal circumstances. Gasmelseid, in this chapter, extends and applies the idea of information systems that support decision making to be applied to the Greening of the organization. While discussions on the legal and regulatory considerations make this chapter a part of the social aspects of Green ICT, this chapter could easily fit in the earlier applications section of this handbook. The relationship between climate change and the strategies of an organization are discussed here from a Green Information Systems perspective. The chapter advocates an approach for viewing the impacts of greening procedures on MIS by focusing on its entire architecture, information processing capacity and knowledge management considerations. Chapter 47 Adopting Green ICT in Business......................................................................................................... 643 Chitra Subramanian, Independent Scholar This final chapter of the handbook is a soft review of the various factors that play a role in Green Information Communication Technology (ICT). The impact of these factors on our professional and private lives worldwide is also discussed. Using Green ICT systems to improve energy efficiency, lower carbon emissions and reuse materials is outlined. Compilation of References ............................................................................................................... 652

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Foreword

I write this foreword as a father and grandfather who is deeply concerned about the state of the environment that we are passing on to our descendents. I also write it as a professional who has been privileged to work for nearly 40 years in one of the most exciting and transformational fields in human history – the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. The future may appear daunting, but I remain hopeful about what can be accomplished through an increased understanding of the issues surrounding the environment. Research, discussion, experimentation, resolution and informed action on global warming are the keys to making progress. Environmental challenges also need to be considered in the context of a society that also relies on a healthy economy. Addressing only the environmental issues without paying sufficient attention to their impact on business can lead to doubt, scepticism and a backlash against any changes. Considering the two in a balanced manner is the only effective way to make real progress. This book, The Handbook of Research on Green ICT, brings together discussions from wide areas of business, technology and society with a focus on the environment and the role of ICT in that environment. This book is also a judicious combination of research, scholarly viewpoints and industrial expertise. The contributed chapters bring to the reader a sensible and pragmatic combination of how business affects the environment, the role of ICT in the overall generation of greenhouse gases and, most importantly, how ICT can be a vital weapon in the continuing battle against global warming. In the context of the discussions that follow in this handbook, it is worth casting a glance at some of the relevant research and publications. These reports table the scientific evidence, identify trends, and project possible consequences. They are not ‘scare mongering’, as is often alleged by denialists and sceptics and frequently reported in sensationalist press articles that revel in exposing every minor gap or flaw in an evolving science. The picture that is presented should generate concern for the long-term future of the environment in the mind of any thoughtful individual. For example, the fourth report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in March 2007, outlines the evidence of global warming and looks at its potential future impact. The IPCC deliberately took a conservative view with this report, recognising that in so doing it may well understate the magnitude of the problem. By way of illustration, the report cited some projections that late-summer sea ice in the arctic might disappear almost entirely by the latter part of the 21st century. In the same year as the forecast, the extent of arctic sea ice shattered all previous record lows, and data for subsequent years have broadly continued more than two standard deviations below the 30-year mean. The most recent research highlights a dramatic thinning (as well as reduction in surface area), and raises the potential for an ice-free arctic much sooner than the IPCC forecast of just a few years ago.

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Even scarier is the prospect of positive feedback mechanisms where warming processes acquire a life of their own, on a scale well beyond any scope for human intervention. The melting of the reflective arctic ice cap would expose a darker ocean surface that would absorb more solar heat and fuel ocean warming. In turn, this could see an accelerating decline of Greenland’s ice shelves – and drive a rise in sea levels of several meters. The mere possibility of such outcomes should be enough to make us pause, reflect and act. Of course, geological records indicate that our planet has been through periods of major climate change before. However the processes have typically taken place over tens or hundreds of thousands of years – allowing time for life to evolve and adapt to a new environment. It is the dramatic rate of change right now that poses the real threat to the habitable environment as we know it. The present crisis appears to be unfolding in human (not geological) timeframes – and there are strong indications that human activity has contributed to it. For example, it is hardly surprising that our rampant use of fossil fuels (raising CO2 levels in the atmosphere) coupled with de-forestation (diminishing the planet’s ability to absorb CO2) is driving green houses gas (GHG) levels upwards. Multiply the impact of our energy-hungry lifestyles by an ever-growing global population and the scale of the challenge becomes clear. History shows that extreme circumstances often bring out the best in the human race. To the extent that human activities are at the source of the problem, there also can be hope that human action may neutralise or even reverse present trends – provided that there is a strong, global response to pull back from the brink before crucial tipping points are reached and the problem assumes a run-away life of its own. Never before has a generation held the future of the planet so directly within its grasp. Is anthropogenic global warming a proven science? The short answer is no – there remains room for doubt and scepticism, at least for now. The only laboratory large enough to conduct meaningful experiments is the planet itself and irrefutable evidence would take decades to compile. However, the appropriateness of precautionary action becomes clear when the two scenarios vying with each other are considered using a basic risk analysis. If we take action and it turns out that global warming is not the result of human activity, then we risk a measure of short-term economic disruption as we embark upon an accelerated path to carbon-neutral life-styles. We may arrive at a cleaner and more sustainable future earlier than was necessary – but given that fossil fuels are a finite source of energy anyway, this wouldn’t be a catastrophic outcome. Furthermore, the companies and the countries that pioneer new, more sustainable ways of living and working early should find a receptive global market for the products and services they develop. On the other hand, if global warming is the result of human activity and we fail to act to try and limit the dire consequences that many scientists are now predicting, then the environmental, social and economic penalties are almost unimaginable. Simple risk-analysis principles dictate that we must take the threat seriously. The ICT community has a major role to play in the response to global warming, at two levels. ICT itself generates about the same carbon impact as the airline industry – and there’s a lot of scope to reduce this substantially through the sort of measures that are outlined by the various contributing authors to the chapters of this handbook. The IPCC also notes that applying technology to the problem is one of the three key weapons to fighting climate change, and it is intuitively obvious that there are lots of ways in which ICT can be used to help the situation. This handbook outlines some of these opportunities. The chapters cover a wide range of approaches from capturing the “low hanging fruit” (like simply turning off idle computers) through to strategic and

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long-term approaches in organisational architecture, data centres, systems design and the use of technology to achieve new levels of energy efficiency in other industries. The thought processes evidenced in the chapters of this book are valuable, irrespective of the causes of global warming. These chapters are written by experts from industry, the research community and pioneering innovators. Contributions have been drawn from around the world from authors with varied backgrounds. Together with intense analysis of the data, there are also high quality and well referenced case studies that provide value to the readers from practical viewpoint. Readers will be able to find further links to extend and expand on their current areas of research. Dr. Unhelkar has done an excellent job of coordinating this work over a period of more than a year. I am honoured to recommend this Handbook of Research in Green ICT – Technical, Methodological and Social Perspective, to researchers as well as practitioners in the industry as an invaluable desktop reference. This book will help organizations with their attempts at greening their IT and related functions; it will also encourage higher degree research; and it will contribute to the overall literature in the area of environmental responsibilities of business. Above all, I am confident that application of the principles and lessons described herein will make a very real contribution to a better environmental future for all. Robin Eckermann University of Canberra, Australia Robin Eckermann After more than 20 years as an IT professional, Robin Eckermann discovered broadband in the early 90’s and became convinced that the world sat on the threshold of a communications revolution that would transform the way that people would work and live. From 1996 he led the establishment of what became recognised as one of Australia’s most advanced broadband initiatives – TransACT’s fibre-to-the-kerb network – delivering triple play services (phone, video and data) to tens of thousands of users in Canberra since 2000. More recently, he has been working at the leading edge of broadband infrastructure developments (especially fibre-to-the-building) throughout Australia and abroad. Robin was appointed an Adjunct Professor in network & communications technologies, business models and project management at the University of Canberra in 2005. He is a popular speaker on all matters relating to broadband and how these technologies can be used for the benefit of the environment.

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Preface

‘If you lose touch with nature you lose touch with humanity.’ —J. Krishnamurti’s Journal, 4 April 1975 The Handbook of Research on Green ICT: Technology, Business and Social Perspectives is the outcome of various debates, discussions, investigations and actions into a vital topic of today – Information and Communications Technology (ICT) -based business activities and the environment. This handbook draws on thoughts, insights, research, experiences and scholarly understanding of authors – both researchers and practitioners - from across the world and presents them as well organized, refereed and edited chapters. While profitability has been the underlying driver for most businesses activities thus far, now there is a crucial angle to this profitability – and that is of sustainability. The United Nation’s Climate Change Conference held at Copenhagen, Denmark, on 7-18th December, 2009 made an attempt to focus the attention of politicians, business leaders, technocrats and administrators over climate. However, the discussions did not result in agreements that the world expected. Perhaps the Global Financial Crisis was partially responsible for the impasse – short agendas often win out against long term agendas. The chasm between the demands of the environment and the demands of business is wide open. However, the correlation between the environment and financial stability and the prosperity of business organizations has been well underscored by Sir Nicholas Stern in his Stern Report. As a result, many businesses have embarked on programs to reduce greenhouse emissions emanating from ICT. Thus, the best way to approach the environmental responsibilities of business is to map it to the efficiency and effectiveness of business. One can’t possibly bring the environmental debate into the crosshairs of a CEO unless it demonstrates corresponding business benefits.

CORE CONTENTS OF THIS HANDBOOK This books covers a wide range of topics. The details of the chapters are available in the table of contents, but here is a brief outline of the core contents that make this book unique: •

•

The first and major section of the book is dedicated to discussion on business strategies relating to green ICT. The idea is to explore the nexus between business efficiency and environmental considerations. Green Technologies are both part of the problem and part of the solution. This section discusses various green technologies related to data centers, and gadgets such as metering and chip designs.

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• • • •

Strategies and technologies need to be applied in practice. The third section of this book is dedicated to applications including green information systems. Green ICT and the environmental responsibilities of business have tremendous social connotations. The fourth section of this book discusses those social impacts of the environmental issues. Case studies are intermingled throughout the book. Being a research book, there is a section on potential research projects in the green ICT domain that the readers should find useful.

AUDIENCE The following readers should find this book appealing: •

• •

•

Leader / Decision Makers: Many of the initial chapters in this handbook are aimed at this category of readers. Authors in this section have concentrated on the long-term, strategic, sustainable view of green ICT and business. Discussions from various economic, architectural, business process and supply chains angles are undertaken here. Many of these chapters have been contributed by practicing senior managers and directors. Researchers / Scholars: This is a research handbook, with many intense research based chapters that researchers will enjoy reading and referencing in their work. Business Analysts and Process Modellers: These are reasders who want to understand the process and business model aspect of green IT – particularly from the applications or Information Systems viewpoint Change Managers & Sociologists: These readers will find the discussions on standards, legislations, and the implications on society and individuals invigorating.

CRITIQUES As with all my previous works, I invite readers to submit their critiques of this book. It will be an honour to receive genuine criticisms and comments on the chapters and their organization in this edited book. This feedback will not only enrich the knowledge and understanding of the contributory authors and myself, but will also add to the general wealth of knowledge available to the Green ICT and environmental community. To all such readers and critics, please accept a sincere thank you in advance. Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney and MethodScience, Australia

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Acknowledgment

I would like to thank all contributing authors of this handbook. I remember chasing various authors to submit their chapters as they occasionally faced extra challenges of their own – some moving houses, others getting married and some others changing jobs and careers. Moving away from the “daily grind”, these insightful individuals have put their time and energy in writing these chapters and they deserve my heartfelt thanks. The effort of the authors was followed by that of the reviewers who put in extraordinary work with all honesty that resulted in strengthening and tightening the thought processes already expressed in the handbook. The reviewers ensured that this literature s double blind peer reviewed and of high quality. which will assist both researchers and practitioners of Green ICT. In particularly, our reviewers played a crucial role in not merely accepting or rejecting the chapters – but actually putting in substantial effort in improving the chapters through constructive criticisms, feedback and edits that the authors were privileged to note. Without the reviewers, this handbook could not have been what it is. Members of the Editorial Advisory Board are also gratefully acknowledged for providing invaluable tips and guidance to the editor and helping make this book a world-class work! More specifically, I would like to thank the following individuals who put in their time and energy and helped me produce this edition of value. Warren Adkins Dinesh Arunatileka Ramesh Balachandran Yogesh Deshpande William Ehmcke Abbass Ghanbary Heemanshu Jain Amit Lingarchani Mohammed Maharmeh San Murugesan Graeme Philipson Norbert Raymond Zahra Saeed Keith Sherringham Prince Soundararajan Louis Taborda

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Bharti Trivedi Rupa Vora Mindy “Ming-Chein” Wu Houman Younessi My thanks also to my wife Asha, daughter Sonki Priyadarashini and son Keshav Raja as well as my extended family, Chinar & Girish Mamdapur. Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney and MethodScience, Australia

Section 1

Strategies and Methods

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Chapter 1

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise Michael Rosen Wilton Consulting Group & Cutter Consortium, USA Tamar Krichevsky Wilton Consulting Group, USA Harsh Sharma OMG Sustainability SIG, USA

ABSTRACT Companies with successful environmental and sustainability programs recognize the need for these programs to be enterprise-wide. Ad-hoc efforts are difficult to scale, manage, repeat, or improve upon. Just like any enterprise-wide program, the issues and requirements of a sustainability initiative are complex and multidimensional. Processes, applications, infrastructure and operations must be aligned with the business goals and requirements. Underlying all of this is the fact that both greenness and sustainability require a robust and adaptable IT infrastructure. This chapter applies the lessons learned from effective use of enterprise architecture (EA) to sustainability initiatives. In particular, it focuses on facilitating the alignment of business visions encompassing financial, environmental, and social responsibility with processes and operational capabilities. Using an architectural approach leverages the key practices that are already in place in successful organizations to drive enterprise-wide sustainability efforts.

INTRODUCTION One of the key lessons that corporations have learned in the recent past is that thinking and practicing green and being sustainable makes business sense. This is particularly so for large corporations who have shifted from significant polluters to focusing on reducing carbon emisDOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch001

sions. For some, this emphasis on the green and sustainability phenomenon is nothing less than a complete turnaround of perception in the marketplace. There appears to be a competition to lead and champion the cause of green and sustainable enterprise. For example, Wal-Mart uses LED lights in its freezer cases and is installing white roofs on its new buildings, lowering both its costs and carbon emissions (Wal-mart, 2009). In 2007, the company

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

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also reached out to its customers with an in-store education program to encourage replacement of incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs (Sanders, 2008). Newsweek magazine recently published a ranking of the “Greenest Big Companies in America” (McGinn, 2009). Whether it is about saving money, complying with governmental guidelines and regulations, promoting one’s organization or company, or expressing genuine concern for the environment, corporations, nonprofits, academic institutions, and others have begun to identify themselves as “green and sustainable” or as “going green.” Increasing numbers of enterprises understand and accept the strategic benefits of sustainability. However, not every organization has the same issues or requirements when heading down the sustainability path. Manufacturers, healthcare institutions, and the travel industry face many of the more complex issues. Yet “cleaner” industries, such as professional associations, software companies, nonprofits, law offices, and governmental agencies, have different, but just as pressing, concerns about green and sustainability. In between these extremes, lay retailers, academia, and financial institutions. Sustainability includes environmental issues facing businesses, like energy efficiency, greenhouse gases, water use, management of toxic waste, and so on. At the same time, a company’s focus on sustainability issues raises concerns, such as workplace safety, community investment, employee acquisition and retention. Despite its growing importance, it is obvious that business leaders will not adopt green strategies or sustainability without solid justification, metrics, and compelling regulatory reasons to do so (Unhelkar, 2010). As businesses are formulating their sustainability strategies they are asking the following questions: •

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How green and sustainable can a given business operation or process be? What opportunities exist for efficiency improve-

•

•

• •

•

•

ments or risk elimination so that the business process is green and sustainable? What environmental regulations must an enterprise comply with? Are there any incentives, financial or otherwise, available for compliance? How green can a building or a facility be? What incentives might be available if a building or facility becomes more green and sustainable? Are our procurement and supply chain processes sustainable? How much data or information may be redundant? Will elimination of redundant data reduce storage requirements and provide better efficiency of a data center? What standards exist — or might be in development — that allow an organization to measure, monitor, and report on its levels of green and sustainability? How can we monetize our small carbon footprint? Has the carbon credit become a global currency that we can bank? The bottom line is: “Can we cash in on some aspects of our greenness and sustainability?”

Often these questions either have no answer or have too many answers. The overarching questions are: Once an organization has identified the motivation for and articulated their vision of sustainability, how does it integrate that vision throughout the enterprise? How will it continually improve sustainability into the future? Both the questions and answers permeate many aspects of an enterprise, from motivation through business processes, operations, IT applications, and infrastructure. Over the past 10 years a great deal has been learned about the effectiveness of enterprise architecture (EA) in facilitating the alignment of business visions and processes with operational capabilities. This chapter describes how the same techniques can be used to drive sustainability throughout the organization.

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

Experience has shown that Enterprise Architecture enhances corporate agility and flexibility in dynamic, competitive markets, and that it works regardless of organizational structure. Even though this chapter touches on many aspects of architecture and EA programs, it is not intended to describe enterprise architecture frameworks or governance approaches, to address different organizational structures, such as centralized or distributed, or to go in depth about other EA details; topics which are well covered in the industry literature. Rather, this chapter illustrates how to use enterprise architecture to facilitate sustainability initiatives.

DEFINING GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE While the increasing awareness and interest in greenness and sustainability are encouraging, the challenge begins with the terminology itself. The labels “green” and “sustainable” are applied frequently and often interchangeably with little understanding of what they truly mean. The terms are heavily loaded with multiple, sometimes conflicting, and mostly subjective definitions. Not only do different industries have different needs and different definitions when it comes to these concepts, various parallel standardization efforts around the globe make it even more difficult to use a single vocabulary and rating system. Thus, a major challenge facing the global shift toward sustainability is the lack of clarity when trying to define the basic terms “green” and “sustainable.” The first step in achieving clarity is to recognize that “green” and “sustainable” mean different things. They are distinct terms, and each has its own definition.

What is Green? Many different definitions of a green business are available from sources on the Internet. For

example, the Bay Area Green Business Program was developed by a coalition of county governments in the San Francisco, California area with the purpose of verifying that businesses, mostly small to medium-sized ones, meet specific standards of environmental performance. It defines green as follows: (ABAG, 2009) To be a green business, first bring your operations into compliance with all environmental regulations. Then go beyond compliance to meet the general practices and targeted resource conservation and pollution prevention measures which are summarized below. General Practices: 1. Track water and energy usage and solid and hazardous waste generation. 2. Adopt a written environmentally preferable (or green) purchasing policy. 3. Establish a “green team” that can help guide efforts to green your business. 4. Provide three on-going incentives or training opportunities to encourage management and employee participation. 5. Inform your customers about your efforts to meet the Green Business Standards. 6. Assist at least one other business in learning about the Green Business Program and encourage them to enroll. This definition is rather tactical in nature. It does contain precise goals and several measurable objectives. Though from a sustainability perspective, it lacks a connection to how the business is run. Another definition of a green business comes from a discussion that took place on the LinkedIn networking site early in 2009. Justin Knechtel, president of The Knechtel Group, posted this: A truly green company is one that actually implements a green plan that’s harmonious with their strategies/forecasts throughout every facet of their business. It’s built into their business model the same way marketing is. Green evolves with their

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growth and is used as a tool for not only reducing costs, waste, and environmental impact, but simultaneously increasing revenue, brand awareness, efficiency, and employee loyalty. (Knechtel, 2009) The intent is good. This definition has a strategic focus and emphasizes how environmental programs must be an integral part of the business. A more precise definition of what constitutes a green program would enhance clarity Knechtel’s definition. Some noteworthy features of a green enterprise can be gleaned from these two definitions: •

•

•

• •

Green strategies are congruent with the business’s overall strategy and they evolve over time. Green activities are integrated throughout the value chain. The goals of a green strategy include reducing costs, environmental impact, and risks while increasing revenue and stakeholder value. The organization goes beyond compliance with regulations by striving to reduce or eliminate the negative environmental impact of its products, services, policies, and assets. Available resources (water, power, and so on) are consumed in a responsible manner. The business’s environmental practices are not limited to internal activities. The business also extends its activities to customers, partners, and like-minded enterprises.

Combining these key attributes of a green enterprise leads to the following definition: An environmentally responsible enterprise (green) actively reduces the environmental impact of its products or services, processes, and assets across its entire value chain, congruent with its normal operations with clearly articulated environmental strategies that reduce costs and risks and simultaneously increase stakeholder value.

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What is Sustainable? The obvious next question is: Are “green” and “sustainable” synonymous? The answer is, no, they are not. Nor does meeting the criteria for a green company automatically mean that it is also sustainable. Becoming green may not always lead to sustainability. Traditionally, an enterprise was considered sustainable as long as it was financially viable. There is a growing awareness that environmental and social concerns are also important elements of corporate sustainability. Such understanding indicates that financial viability is no longer the sole measure of sustainability. A sustainable organization can be defined as: An enterprise is deemed sustainable if its products, services, policies, and assets are balanced across three dimensions. These dimensions are: • • •

Economic viability Environmental responsibility Social equitability

The three dimensions of a sustainable organization are not distinct from each other and, thus, must be addressed together. It is the commitment and the ability to address all three dimensions simultaneously that makes an enterprise sustainable. The triple bottom line is a common term for evaluating a company’s combined financial, environmental, and social performance. As with many other aspects of a business, there are both internal and external dimensions of sustainability. For many enterprises sustainability reaches beyond their traditional boundaries into partnerships, supply chains, and customers or clients. If an enterprise focuses only on the economic viability of its supply chain, it will miss out on understanding the impact of the supply chain on environmental responsibility (Is the packaging minimal and recyclable?) or its social equitability (Are the supplier’s factories sufficiently safe for the workers?). Consider the following statement

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

taken from Kodak’s Web site about its compliance to the European Union’s (EU) Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) (European Union, 2009):

the dimensions will differ across businesses and industries depending on the markets, regulatory environment, and investment climate in which they operate.

Kodak is committed to meeting the requirements of the RoHS Directive and has modified its corporate standards accordingly. However, we also understand that the transition to alternative materials in some applications will pose challenges. These requirements and the associated challenges significantly impact our supplier base. Consequently, Kodak is taking steps to ensure that our suppliers understand our requirements and work with us to ensure that our equipment products conform to our standards and thereby the RoHS legislation. We recognize that our suppliers and other business partners are key allies in helping us achieve our environmental goals. (Kodak)

Economic Viability

The diagram of a sustainable organization shown in Figure 1 provides a framework for discussing the relationship of the three key dimensions of sustainability. It is quite common for some aspects, such as facilities or processes, to fall into overlapping areas. The balance between

Figure 1. Dimensions of a sustainable organization (Sharma, 2009)

An enterprise can be environmentally responsible and socially equitable only as long as it is economically viable. If it costs an enterprise more to produce its products or services than it can make by selling them, then it will not be economically viable. Without economic viability, an enterprise cannot continue to exist, let alone invest in addressing its environmental or social footprints. This dimension of the sustainable organization addresses both the tactical and strategic running of the enterprise. It really is no different from what companies are doing today, with the exception that decisions made are balanced against the other dimensions of the sustainable organization. Areas of focus for economic viability include, but are not limited to: • • • •

Products and services Operations costs Supply chain Distribution

Environmental Responsibility If a business fits the definition of a green enterprise proposed above, then it is addressing the dimension of environmental responsibility. In an attempt to actively reduce or eliminate its environmental impact the business may take a hard look at and change how it deals with any of the following, given the constraints of economic viability: • • •

Waste management Emissions: carbon, toxins, water quality Resource usage: power, water, raw materials

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Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

• •

Recycle/reuse: enterprise operations, supply chain, manufacturing Product lifecycle impact: supply chain, R&D, manufacturing, product use and disposal

As shown by the quote from Kodak, environmental responsibility has the potential to expand the edges of the enterprise. HP provides another example: not only does it monitor and manage its own environmental impact; it is actively involved with the members of its supply chain to reduce their impact too. (Velte, Velte, & Elsenpeter, 2008)

Social Equitability Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is of growing interest to many enterprises. Like environmental responsibility, social equitability may permeate the entire business in obvious and not-so-obvious ways. The line between environmental responsibility and social equitability is not always a very clear one. For example, the European Union’s RoHS Directive sets a maximum concentration of lead and five other hazardous chemicals in an electronic product Lead interferes with the development of the brain and nervous system, especially in children. Is reducing or eliminating lead in products an environmental responsibility or a social responsibility or both? A precise answer is less important than understanding the requirements on the enterprise that arise out of compliance with the regulation. A small set of social equitability considerations an organization may take into account are: • • • •

Safety: products, people, facilities Processes Facility planning: telecommuting, outsourcing Community outreach

The appropriate balance between the three dimensions or aspects of sustainability will differ

6

between organizations within and across industries. For example, within the healthcare sector, hospitals have significant challenges with disposal of hazardous waste, while insurance companies are more concerned with reducing paper utilization or decreasing power consumption in their data centers.

The Sustainable Process Encircling the dimensions of the sustainable organization in Figure 1 are the basic steps for initiating and continually improving sustainability: plan, define, assess, measure, analyze, report, monitor, and refine. To be the most effective, the overall approach should be iterative and incremental. Start out small and gain experience with introducing sustainable practices before rolling them out on a grand scale or trying to extend them beyond the traditional boundaries of the company. Another reason for incrementally introducing sustainability throughout the company is to overcome skeptics. Many times, portions of the business only go along grudgingly because they’ve been told they have to. In this scenario, a sustainability initiative must provide results on the first attempt because it will rarely be given a second chance. Pay attention to the things that really matter, provide immediate value, and create demonstrable wins. These successes can be used to show the benefits of the sustainability program and justify continual investment in it.

Measuring Effectiveness The progress of any initiative must be measured against goals and assessed for ways to incrementally improve on things. Metrics should be designed to measure, monitor, and communicate status and progress, specifically targeting Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for strategic goals. These metrics are one of the best ways to demonstrate the value of both sustainability and architecture in a company. It is essential to set a baseline up front and

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

to keep track of is being accomplished. (Benson, Bugnitz, & Walton, 2004) (Gawande, 2009) provides an example of the value of metrics for justifying and motivating change in a complex, unreceptive environment. In 2006 the World Health Organization embarked on a program to improve the outcomes of surgery worldwide. Eight hospitals were selected to participate, ranging from a high-tech, urban hospital to a rural, poorly supplied hospital in Africa. The program commenced in 2007 with three months of collecting metrics about surgery outcomes. The hospitals then implemented new surgical procedures while continuing to collect the same data. The surgical complication rate dropped 47% within six months of implementing the new procedures. The baseline information enabled them to accurately assess their progress and make a compelling case for change and for expanding the new procedures to other hospitals.

CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING A SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM There are numerous challenges, both internal and external, in implementing a sustainability program. This chapter does not elaborate on methods for increasing the sustainability of the supply chain, reducing power consumption, or the myriad other potential ways to improve an enterprise’s green footprint and sustainability. Instead, it describes how to incorporate sustainability requirements throughout the processes, applications, operations, and infrastructure of an enterprise in a consistent, adaptable way.

Organizational Challenges Initiating a sustainability program, like any other transformation, requires organizational change. The challenges rest in managing and motivating change, in changing mindsets, and in gaining support. Understanding what the transition to

sustainability means for the organization is as important in the overall shift as is the process of how it is done initiatives. Organizations need executive-level support and a dedicated team with both the authority and influence to affect change. When enterprises, such as SAP, DuPont, Google, and Georgia-Pacific, create the position of chief sustainability officer (CSO), they signal their commitment to implement sustainability throughout the business, especially when the position reports directly to the CEO. The CSO role establishes that an executive is clearly responsible for the effectiveness of the program. But the executive cannot solve the problems alone. The CSO needs to establish a team that conceives sustainability policies and practices and helps groups throughout the enterprise understand and adopt them. The CSO’s sustainability team requires the authority, influence, and expertise to affect changes across the enterprise. The sustainability team’s credibility and effectiveness is established in two ways: first, to whom the team reports and, second, the composition of the team. The CSO’s executive level role indicates that team should be taken seriously. The team’s composition addresses the complex nature of the business itself, the disruptive nature of transformations, and the intricacies of sustainability. Experience and a breadth of expertise are required. At a minimum, the team must have representation from project management, business, PR/communications, and enterprise architecture. Project management shepherds the sustainability initiative incrementally throughout the enterprise. The business representation uncovers new opportunities and ensures that business operations are well understood and not sidetracked by the initiative. Communications sells the changes internally and externally to gain buy-in for the sustainability effort and promote the benefits. Enterprise architecture understands the big picture of the business, the relationships between domains within the business, and the techniques to tie them together.

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Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

The CSO benefits when the sustainability team uses enterprise architecture to facilitate adoption of the new strategy and goals (Ross, Weill, & Robertson, 2006). The skills, frameworks, and practices required for enterprise architecture have been proven in other transformative initiatives. An architectural approach provides a conceptual framework that divides the problem space into smaller, more manageable pieces. The architect is skilled at soliciting, analyzing, and integrating requirements, conceptualizing solutions, and communicating the path forward. One of the most important areas of expertise an enterprise architect brings to the sustainability team is a clear understanding of both the breadth and depth of the enterprise.

•

Challenges to Acceptance In order for any business to be successful in its sustainability initiatives, there needs to be an overhaul of the mission and vision statements to include honest language on these terms. Adding “green” and “sustainable” to the statements may be necessary, but the new words alone are not sufficient for a business to become sustainable. More importantly, the organization must incorporate environmental responsibility and sustainability into their processes and practices. Adopting green and sustainable practices can enhance ROI by saving money on resources and by enhancing overall organizational efficiency, as well as by streamlining IT and other workplace technologies. There are a few important things to keep in mind: •

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Everyone’s perspective is different. Everyone’s understanding of sustainability is different. The level of interest in sustainability varies depending on the stakeholder and the dimension or aspect under consideration. For example, a business analyst in the customer service department has different concerns from a manager in the data center. The former wants fast, fail-

•

safe retrieval of information to ensure the business’s financial viability. Yet the latter wants to reduce redundant systems to decrease power consumption for both the financial viability and the environmental responsibility of the business. Both the analyst and the manager are concerned about sustainability, but their views of what is necessary to sustain are different based on their own perspectives. It is complex and multidimensional. Any enterprise-wide initiative is inherently complex and multidimensional. Initially, it may not be clear how to tease out where individual sustainability requirements apply within the value chain. Metrics vary for different audiences inside and outside of the business. The enterprise operations and infrastructure need to be aligned with the business’s sustainability goals and requirements — something that does not always happen easily or naturally. There is a need for common semantics. The terminology surrounding green and sustainability is currently imprecise and inconsistent. A common set of terms and definitions will reduce confusion across the enterprise and industry. Ideally, an international standard will emerge that defines each term and articulates how these words relate to the businesses that invoke them.

An Architectural Approach to Sustainability Implementing sustainability has enterprise wide ramifications, such as: • •

Need for common semantics. Alignment of processes, applications, infrastructure, and operations with the business goals and requirements.

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

• •

Understanding the current systems and providing a roadmap toward future systems. Aggregation and presentation of information to support executive decision making.

These are a few of the benefits of enterprise architecture. Experience has shown that using an architectural approach to address common vocabulary and define, assess, measure, analyze, report, and monitor different dimensions of an enterprise brings clarity, understanding, and consistency to enterprise initiatives (Weill & Ross, 2004). Thus, using an architectural approach can facilitate the adoption of sustainability throughout an enterprise. When addressing an issue, enterprise architects ask the following questions: • •

• • •

•

Why is the organization doing it? What are the implications at an enterprise level? What additional benefits are possible? What exactly does the organization need to do? What does it mean for the organization? How does the organization make it happen? What is the strategy to transition the organization from its current state? How is success recognized and measured?

While these questions can be asked by anyone, the enterprise architect takes a formal, analytical approach to answering them (Rosen, 2008a).The answers to each set of questions can be represented in one or more formal models. These models have specific relationships to each other and to an overall process. For example, the output of one step of the process, such as a specific model, is the input to the next step. The process and models provide traceability so that specific items, such as components, processes, or policies, can be traced back to the strategy and goals that they implement, and traced down to the next level of detail about their implementation. In addition, all of the models

fit within an overall governance, measurement, and reporting framework. An architectural approach to sustainability considers the following questions.

Why is the Organization Doing It? The first step is to understand the motivation and requirements, in other words, why is an organization trying to be sustainable? There are numerous reasons, including: •

•

Cost reduction: there are many different opportunities for reducing costs by adopting a sustainable approach. Some examples are: ◦⊦ Reducing the use of resources reduces the costs to acquire them ◦⊦ Reducing the use of resources reduces the costs to dispose of them, which can be substantial depending on the type of waste ◦⊦ Reduction of inventory, storage, shipping, and labor Regulatory requirements: many industries have stringent requirements for the procurement, handling, and disposal of materials. Compliance with these requirements is not only necessary but can bring added benefits. The EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive requires manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment to assume responsibility for the collection and disposal of the products they manufacture (European Commission, 2009). WEEE has become the model for regulation in many non-EU countries, including Canada, China, Mexico, and Japan. To respond to WEEE, manufacturers must add take-back and recycling programs to their processes or risk losing markets where WEEE is in effect. In addition, they are rethinking the design of new products to reduce end-of-

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Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

•

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life waste in the future. There are other advantages, too, such as building consumer loyalty as a result of take-back and recycling programs. Incentives: incentives for sustainability exist in many different areas. A new area called incentive-driven compliance (IDC) is being explored by many businesses to encourage better compliance and innovation. As with any incentive program, governments and other organizations intend to encourage beneficial behavior with financial gains while discouraging undesirable behavior by leveraging penalties. An interesting balance of these two methods exists for Swiss citizens where recycling is free, but each bag of rubbish costs the household money. Incentives for organizations include: ◦⊦ 10% (US $78 billion) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are allocated for clean energy, energy efficiency, environmental and green transportation initiatives (U.S. Government, 2009). ◦⊦ The Canadian government announced a CAD $1 billion program to support environmental improvements for the Canadian pulp and paper industry, a sector not normally associated with greenness (Natural Resources Canada, 2009). ◦⊦ In 2007, the US state of Arkansas in the United States created a grant program to assist in the recycling of electronic waste. ◦⊦ The Australian government’s initiatives, such as the Green Building Fund ($90m over four years), strive to reduce the energy consumed in the operation of existing commercial office buildings. Grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 are available for up to 50% of project costs.

•

•

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Improvements in efficiency — many of our existing processes are based on decades-old metaphors and technologies, as well as outdated models for the real cost of acquiring and disposing of resources. Often, significant efficiencies and cost reductions may be gained by updating internal and external business processes. Environmental/community responsibility — in the San Francisco Bay area, if a company tracks its resource usage and its waste generation, it can be certified by the Bay Area Green Business Program. This gives the business a higher profile in an environmentally sensitive community and may translate into customer and brand loyalty. On a global scale, a good deal of electric and electronic waste is sent to Africa and China. The chemicals, such as lead and cadmium, in these products often end up in the air, water, and soil of the places where the products are disassembled. Take-back and recycling programs aim to decrease and eventually eliminate this source of hazardous waste in less privileged economies. Reputation/leadership — there is an internal and an external component to reputation and leadership. Hewlett-Packard’s long history of concern for the environment demonstrates both (Velte, Velte, & Elsenpeter, 2008). Starting back in the 1970s HP: ◦⊦ Began an internal program of recycling printouts and punch cards ◦⊦ Created the position of environment control coordinator ◦⊦ Began monitoring its operations to reduce pollution

In the decades since, HP has continued to be a leader in sustainability efforts. But, HP is not satisfied with only addressing these issues within the company. It leverages its experience and

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

reputation to help suppliers and others improve along the environmental responsibility dimension. Having fleshed out with business and corporate leaders the answers to the question of why the business is pursuing sustainability, an architect could use a business motivation model, like the one in Figure 3, to validate and communicate the results.

Implications at the Enterprise Level Sustainability does not exist in isolation. The overall perspective of how it fits within the enterprise must be considered. An enterprise should not optimize a process or policy for sustainability in one area at the expense of sub-optimizing the overall enterprise. There is often a perceived conflict between practicality or expediency and enterprise applicability, but this is a false tradeoff. More often than not, both can be achieved resulting in reduced total costs and improved overall value. A careful balance between departmental (local) and enterprise (global) concerns must be established. To achieve this balance, the business must understand how sustainability fits into the overall enterprise. Is it consistent with the enterprise strategy? How does it enhance or conflict with specific areas? Are the goals for sustainability consistent with achieving the overall strategy? Does the enterprise have to update the strategy and goals to be consistent with the sustainability commitment? In addition, the enterprise wants to leverage its efforts toward sustainability across the enterprise. For example, in an effort to reduce paper an enterprise decides to implement online account statements rather than mailing the statements to customers every month. Obviously, this will save costs on paper, postage, returned mail, and so on. Yet, what other opportunities does it present? Perhaps it will reduce the load on customer service, since customers will be able to see their accounts in real time themselves. The enterprise can customize the billing format for different customers to improve customer satisfaction. Marketing could

provide real-time, targeted promotions to specific customers to increase cross-selling. Other cost saving, self-service options such as automatic bill payment, profile or account information change, and more could be provided. Given these opportunities, the enterprise needs to understand which ones support the overall strategic goals and then how they can take advantage of them. What new processes will need to be introduced? What information will be needed? What new systems will be needed to support them? What new infrastructure will that require? When? Continuing with this example, in order to implement online statements requires the enterprise to move to an “n-tiered” application architecture and to introduce new Web and application server tiers. This kind of modular infrastructure is perfect for a virtualized environment. So, what are the enterprise plans for virtualization at the data center level? Do those plans support the new requirements for e-statements and future growth toward e-billing? Is the enterprise consistently moving to the right kind of systems and capacity, or does it need to reevaluate its virtualization plans? The important point is that from an enterprise perspective, an attempt to “simply” reduce paper consumption can have wide-ranging implications.

What Does the Organization Need to Do? (Action Points) At this point in the process, architecture has identified the motivations, goals, and objectives of sustainability and identified a variety of options for achieving them. In addition, these characteristics and options and have been examined in the context of the overall enterprise. The next step is to decide on exactly what actions will be taken. Each option needs to be evaluated to understand the implications and dependencies. What processes will be changed? What new processes will be introduced? What are the reporting and compliance implications? Exactly what systems and applications will change or be acquired and

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how? What technology will need to change or be acquired and how? What new policies will need to be put in place? What are the priorities? What are the dependencies? What resources are available to apply to the transition? The road-mapping example presented later in this chapter illustrates a technique for taking all these aspects into consideration when strategizing for action.

What Does it Mean for the Organization? Implementing green and sustainability programs is a complex, multidimensional problem. Like any other transformation, the biggest challenge is likely to be organizational change. How will the middle-level management be incented to make those changes, especially if they threaten the status quo? For example, what will happen to the manager and the group of people who do paper billing statements when they are largely replaced by e-statements? Different parts of the organization will be interested at different levels and in different aspects of sustainability. For example, operations will be interested in reducing power consumption and cooling by server virtualization and other techniques. Development will be concerned with new applications and reduction of redundant applications and storage. HR will be concerned with moving to a corporate intranet and employee portal. Business units will be concerned with process improvement and waste reduction. Procurement will be concerned with buying more ecologically suitable products. Facilities will be concerned with recycling and energy usage in the building. IT will be concerned with more efficient and energy smart equipment. Corporate relations will be concerned with public relations aspects of the enterprise initiative. And so on. Facilitating organizational change requires an understanding of the big picture, the roles that different groups play, and their motivation and

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resistances. Understanding what the transition to sustainability means for the organization is as important in the overall transition as developing the list of what to do.

How Does the Organization Make it Happen? With the identification of tactics and organizational issues considered, the organization can now put a roadmap in place to implement the transition. Roadmapping is a standard activity for enterprise architects. First, the architect describes the current “as-is” situation. Next, the end game, or “to-be” vision, is illustrated, and gap analysis performed. From the gap analysis, the architect then prioritizes the activities, understands dependencies and what can be done in parallel, accounts for resources, identifies intermediate milestones, and develops a roadmap that ties initiatives to business drivers. The roadmap clearly identifies the projects, processes, systems, and technology implications involved in the transformation. See Figure 5 for an example of a high-level roadmap.

How is Success Measured? After all that, the initiative is still not done. How will success be measured to determine if sustainability is working? How will progress be measured? What objective information is necessarily to guide midcourse corrections? How will the results be reported to leadership? As part of the business analysis, key goals and objectives should have been identified. These will lead to a first pass of metrics that should be collected. One aspect of architecture is the specification and use of standards. So this is a good time to determine if there are standards, metrics, or recommended methods of monitoring the progress of sustainability? Any industry standards that exist should be evaluated for adoption. Standards allow the enterprise not only to measure success in

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

a standard way, but also to compare itself against industry benchmarks and other organizations. Having identified key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, the processes and systems to collect the metrics need to be in place. For example, to reduce paper consumption, just measuring how much paper the entire company uses probably isn’t enough. Instead, the enterprise needs to know what the different usages of paper are (mailing, reports, copy machines, employee printing, forms, etc.), have some way of measuring consumption across the different usage categories, implement mechanisms to collect the information, and store the results somewhere, such as a data warehouse of sustainability information. Finally, the enterprise can develop reports and dashboards to present progress and perform realtime and ad hoc analysis as required.

WHERE DOES SUSTAINABILITY FIT IN THE OVERALL ARCHITECTURE? The motivation for heading down the sustainability path is clear. Architecture has developed a roadmap. Business and IT have a good understanding of the requirements for the initiative. Like any solution, sustainability must be based on requirements. With a complex, enterprise wide problem like sustainability, the requirements come from many different sources and need to be integrated. The approach must define the relationship (flow) of enterprise requirements into architectural domains and work products (Rosen, 2008b).

Sustainable Architecture The enterprise architecture is the collection of all other architectures combined to meet specific business requirements and goals at an enterprise scope. The EA defines relationships between the specific domain architectures and how all of the different architectures relate to each other and contribute to the overall enterprise. Figure 2 shows

an enterprise architecture, labeled “sustainable architecture” in the right-hand column, consisting of six architectural domains. Starting at the top right (at the strategic end) and moving toward the bottom (the operational/tactical end) the domains are: business architecture, information architecture, application architecture, technology architecture, and operational architecture. A sixth discipline, performance architecture, adds accountability and continual improvement to the enterprise and spans all of the domain architectures. The overall enterprise architecture subsumes these architectures, each of which is driven by a different set of requirements and concerns (shown in oblong boxes in the middle column). The sustainability requirements (shown in the left-hand column in Figure 2) add to other enterprise requirements to impact the enterprise architecture. The business architecture describes the enterprise from a business perspective. It is concerned with what the business is, not how the business systems are implemented. This architecture is influenced by enterprise and business requirements and takes into account core competencies and strategies. The business architecture is essential to identifying the core set of strategies, value chains, processes, services, entities, and governance required to support the enterprise — and to enable an intelligent, prioritized strategy for implementing and improving initiatives, programs, and projects over time. Sustainability is a major initiative affecting strategies, value chains, process, services, and governance. The information architecture provides a consistent view into and context for using, enterprise-wide information across processes and applications. It defines the master data semantics and requirements for the primary business entities and offers a managed information environment for both operational and analytical information. The requirements that influence the information architecture come from the business, information, and enterprise domains. This architecture provides the context for facilitating and enforcing a uniform

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Figure 2. Applying an architectural approach to sustainability and green (Rosen, et al, 2009)

understanding of terminology (semantics) across applications and lines of business. While focusing on what must be common across applications to meet enterprise goals, the application architecture describes how to build applications and how to use the technology architecture to achieve enterprise capabilities and consistency. The application architecture also describes the overall set of applications and how they are integrated together. New applications will be required to support sustainability efforts. As well, specific architectural styles and the elimination of redundancy can contribute to the reduction of resources. The technology architecture describes the infrastructure required to support applications, operations, and reporting requirements. It must satisfy specific requirements for distribution, scalability, reliability, device support, security, and application integration. Power utilization of the infrastructure has been the primary focus of green IT to date and will continue to be an integral part of sustainability efforts. 14

The most tactical of the architectures is the operational architecture. It is driven by the technical and operational requirements of the enterprise and defines how the infrastructure is operated, managed, and monitored to meet the enterprise qualities of service. Operations must be sustainable and strive to minimize energy consumption as well as contribute to the compliance and reporting of resource utilization and other sustainability efforts. Finally, all of these architectures, and the overall enterprise, are supported by the performance architecture. This provides a consistent mechanism to define, collect, analyze, and report on metrics (e.g., KPIs at the business level, paper utilization at the application level, and server and power utilization at the technology level). Although performance architecture is not one of the traditional EA domains (neither is operations for that matter), it is critical to understanding and managing sustainability, compliance, and incentives.

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

Sustainability Requirements Sustainability adds to these typical concerns, introducing many new requirements. For example, regulatory requirements and incentives impact multiple aspects of the enterprise. Regulations, compliance requirements, and incentives must be factored into the business models, processes, and reporting. New semantics, information stores, and reporting/analytics are required, as well as new applications to collect, manage, and distribute the information and reports. Not only does sustainability affect the infrastructure in terms of servers, storage, and networks to support these new applications, but the infrastructure itself is a subject of the reporting and a target of resource reduction efforts. Reductions in resources can have far-ranging effects. Examining resource utilization will expose opportunities for optimizing outdated business processes, requiring new systems, applications, and infrastructure, especially at the manufacturing and operations levels there are numerous opportunities for reducing resources. Some efforts when viewed in isolation may not seem interesting or economically viable, but when viewed from an overall enterprise perspective they can provide opportunities to leverage efforts across several initiatives or promote new revenues. For example, one way to reduce paper utilization is to provide employee information online in an employee portal. In a study done in the late 1990s, Bank of America calculated that it saved 100 tons of paper annually simply by putting its employee phone directory online (Bank of America, 1997) through an employee portal. Then it was able to leverage the same portal for other areas such as online expense reporting. The flip side of utilization is waste disposal, even for a fairly benign substance such as paper. For example, the enterprise has to either store or dispose of every piece of paper it consumes and waste disposal has implications at the business architecture level in defining enterprise policies

and practices. Changes in processes naturally trickle down into applications, infrastructure, and operations. There are many requirements and opportunities in managing the supply chain and in procuring resources. Building on the paper reduction example again, resources can be reduced by procuring lighter weight paper, and environmental impact can be reduced by procuring paper with certain manufacturing attributes and content. The business architecture should articulate these activities in terms of the enterprise’s stewardship goals and then define policies to specify them. The enterprise will need to implement governance processes to enforce them and possibly acquire some new applications to enable, manage, and monitor them. Even reducing power consumption, often considered low-hanging fruit, has an enterprise perspective; the data center can reduce consumption by virtualizing existing server and storage configurations. Although this will have an impact, by itself it is not enough. Significant additional decreases will be attained when then enterprise adopts an application architecture that takes maximum advantage of the virtualization (Lamb, 2009). Further reductions can be realized by eliminating redundant or unnecessary applications and data altogether. In other words, requirements for sustainability, like any major business transformation, have far-reaching implications across the enterprise. An enterprise approach that evaluates all of the potential tactics and addresses them together at an enterprise scope across of all the architectural domains builds on existing best practices to effectively introduce and implement sustainability.

RESOURCE REDUCTION EXAMPLE: PAPER The example in this section applies enterprise architecture to a sustainability initiative. As the example walks through the process, it touches

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on many of the topics discussed in the remaining chapters in this book and shows how architecture uses the company’s vision and strategy to tie together disparate concerns, such as the role of new business processes in sustainability programs, business analysis and modeling, the necessity of metrics and business intelligence, the impact of technology in designing and implementing solutions, reengineering, and the role of green IT. This example demonstrates their relevance at the enterprise level and the nature of their interconnectedness. The example is based on a sustainability initiative at a fictitious financial services company, Acme Bank. In the previous quarter’s strategic planning meeting of Acme Bank, three important issues were raised: (1) Acme’s paper costs are significantly higher than other financial services organizations. (2) While customer acquisition numbers have remained steady, the customer retention figures have declined for several quarters. A survey of departing customers shows that they are leaving for banks with better online services. (3) Stakeholders, including customers, shareholders, and local environmental organizations, have been pressuring Acme Bank for an assessment of its “environmental bottom line”. During the current strategic planning meeting, the executives at Acme Bank decide that they want to lower their paper costs in a manageable and consistent manner across the company. They are aware that reduction of paper consumption is something that all departments are wrestling with to one degree or another, but each department is taking its own approach and there is no way to assess overall progress at the enterprise level. While they aren’t sure, they feel that a paper reduction initiative may also impact the other issues identified in the strategy meeting. In a brainstorm

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session, the executives identify several reasons to start a paper reduction program: • • •

• •

Environmental consciousness Reputation Cost reduction ◦⊦ Less paper ◦⊦ Less ink ◦⊦ Less storage Less waste Efficiency improvements

The executives at Acme Bank provide their Sustainability Team with the issues and results of their brainstorming session and assign them the task of creating an environmental initiative to address the issues. The membership of the Sustainability Team consists of representatives from project management, business analysis, communications, and enterprise architecture. Because of the proven track record and strong leadership provided by the enterprise architect, the team chooses an architectural approach to develop the new Paper Reduction Initiative.

Business Motivation The CSO and Sustainability Team must take the information from the brainstorm session and make it more useful. They use a business motivation model (BMM) (Object Management Group, 2008) to better articulate the vision, and strategy of the paper reduction initiative. The team derives the goals and tactics for the initiatives from the vision and strategy. These are used to define and drive the effort throughout the company. Figure 3 shows an extract of a BMM that addresses Acme Bank’s new sustainability initiative. Starting at the upper left of the figure, the team defines the following vision: “to become a sustainable enterprise that is environmentally, socially, and fiscally responsible and well regarded by our customers and our community.”

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

While the vision clarifies the intent of the executives, it alone is not sufficient to move the company toward sustainability; the vision states what the bank wants to accomplish, but not how to carry out the vision. The BMM indicates that the ‘how’ is articulated through a strategy. The Sustainability Team defines the strategy for the initiative as: “Modernize our processes to reduce utilization of resources, specifically paper.” To accomplish the stated vision and strategy, the team defines specific goals. In other words, the goals amplify the vision, and the strategy supports the goals. Just as the vision alone is not enough, the goals also need additional clarification. So, the team quantifies the goals with specific objectives. For the example, one goal and a corresponding objective are: • •

Goal: to reduce resource consumption and waste Objective: to reduce paper utilization by 25% by 2012

While there are many goals and objectives, for clarity and simplicity, this example includes only one of each type of model element. Now the team understands that their initial objective is to reduce paper utilization. In order to achieve that objective, they need to have specific tactics. Given that Acme’s paper costs are higher than competitors and the bank’s customers are dissatisfied with its on-line services, the Sustainability Team decides that a good tactic would both reduce paper use and retain customers. They define the tactic: “Implement online account statements.” The team records their discussions about implementing on-line statements. Policies, rules, and other tactics arise from these discussions. The recorded comments and questions about this tactic include: • •

How will the bank get customers to change? Can the bank do the same thing with its internal reporting? Can reports be put on

Figure 3. Extract of a business motivation model (Rosen, et al, 2009)

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Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

•

line instead of printing out numerous copies that are never read? What does an on-line statement look like for a customer with several accounts? Right now each account is handled by a different department which sends out a separate statement.

The team used the first comment, “How will the bank get the customers to change?” to inform this tactic in terms of specific policies, such as: “Provide incentives to customers to encourage switching to online billing.” The policy to provide incentives needs more specificity. Rules are used to enforce policies and tactics. One rule the team defined is: “Offer a one-time rebate per account to each customer for signing up for online account statements.” To summarize, the vision of sustainable responsibility is amplified by the goal of reducing resource consumption, and the goal is quantified by the objective of reducing paper usage 25% over three years. The goal is supported by the strategy of modernizing processes. The objective is achieved by the tactic of implementing online account statements. The strategy and tactics are governed by the policy of incenting customers, which is enforced by the rule of providing a rebate. Finally, on the left side of the figure, the future business service “AcctStatement” realizes the tactic, providing traceability from the IT service to the tactic that it implements, to the objective that the tactic achieves, all the way up to the business goal and strategy. The association between elements in the BMM allows traceability in the other direction, too. Thus, the model defines a way to monitor and measure the initiative from the start.

Tactics for Reducing Paper Consumption The BMM in Figure 3 shows only one tactic, but there are many tactics that the Sustainability

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Team evaluated for reducing paper consumption (Sarantis, 2002). The other tactics for reducing paper use at Acme Bank include: •

•

•

•

Duplexing: printing and copying on both sides of the paper can greatly reduce paper utilization. To implement this, the bank needs to: ◦⊦ Implement Managed Print Services to automatically specify duplex printing and provide overall printer device management and reporting. ◦⊦ Update printers and copiers with efficient, duplex models. ◦⊦ Remove individual desktop printers for most employees. Cleaning mailing lists: removing unnecessary names and duplicates from mailing lists will reduce the amount of mail that has to be printed and sent. A cleaner mailing list has the added benefit of reducing postage, another cost savings. There are several reasons for unnecessary names on mailing lists: former customer or employee, recipient has moved, recipients have multiple accounts, and so on. Reducing paper weight and purchasing specific paper: by using lighter paper, fewer resources are consumed for the same number of pages. Also, the bank can specify to suppliers that paper must have a specific minimum content of recycled and other materials, to lessen the impact of the manufacturing of the paper itself. In order to accomplish this, the bank needs to create specific tactics and policies to: ◦⊦ Centralize the purchasing of paper ◦⊦ Enforce paper requirements Evaluating internal report distribution: the bank discovered that thousands of internal reports are printed, distributed, and thrown out every day. The team identified

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

•

•

•

several tactics to reduce paper utilization for internal reports: ◦⊦ Make reports available online instead of on paper ◦⊦ Clean and reduce distribution lists to those who absolutely require a printed copy Implementing an internal intranet: as the team looked at where paper was used in the bank, it discovered that the majority of internal processes and communications were still paper based. They determined that by moving internal communications online, the consumption by employees would diminish greatly. The tactics they identified to do this are: ◦⊦ Implement an employee portal (B2E) ◦⊦ Implement a document management system ◦⊦ Create policies and governance ◦⊦ Move internal communications to the portal, such as HR, communications, expense reporting, and purchasing requests Putting forms online: another related activity identified by the team is to put business and other forms online. Not only does this make the most recent version of the form available to those who need it, wherever they are, but it reduces waste in disposing of outdated forms after they have been updated. This tactic can apply to both internal and external users. Providing electronic account statements: Acme Bank is a financial services company. It sends out tens of thousands of account statements every month. A significant reduction in paper can be achieved by providing electronic statements to customers instead. This includes tactics in the following areas: ◦⊦ Online: provide a secure way to view accounts online. Incent customers to adopt e-statements. Provide an opt-

•

•

out for customers who can’t or don’t want to receive e-statements. ◦⊦ Consolidated statements for customers with multiple accounts. Savings can be had by sending only one combined statement per household, rather than multiple individual statements. ◦⊦ Customer relationship and marketing: Provide customized statements. Target specific marketing campaigns based on customer profiles and activity. This will require: new applications for targeted promotions; new marketing systems; new sales tracking systems; and a common, consistent product catalog. Offering online billing: according the team’s analysis, once statements are available online, the next logical step is to provide billing online. This may include: ◦⊦ Implementing new processes and systems for billing and payments ◦⊦ Validating regulatory compliance Improving internal processes: the team identified opportunities for improving internal processes and replacing outdated paper-based workflows with new, more efficient processes. For example: ◦⊦ Loan origination: improving the loan origination process requires the overall process to be redesigned; new systems to collect data be created; implementation of BPM (Business Process Management) or workflow systems for the new process; acquisition of new applications and technology to manage document- and image-storage and retrieval; adoption of new compliance and reporting systems; implementation of a migration and rollout plan; and training for end users.

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Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

Measuring Progress One of the important questions asked earlier was “How is success measured?” This can’t just be an afterthought but has to be integrated into the overall approach. That is why the performance architecture was emphasized earlier in the discussion of enterprise architecture. Before Acme Bank makes any changes, it needs to know what its baseline is. It must determine what the paper utilization is today in terms of how much and for what purposes — mailing, reports, copy machines, employee printing, forms, etc. Then, the bank needs to measure the change in utilization as a result of specific polices and tactics. As this is happening, the bank needs reports on both utilization and progress. Standard reports are necessary, but not sufficient. The bank also needs ad-hoc analysis of information to look for trends, relationships, optimizations, and so on. To accomplish this, the Sustainability Team identified the following requirements: • • • •

A system to monitor paper utilization Data warehouse or other storage for utilization information over time Reporting and analytic systems to consume the data Executive dashboards to present the data.

The reporting and analysis of paper utilization cannot be done in isolation. It has to be done in the context of the bank’s overall sustainability efforts and reporting efforts. This leads to another important architectural approach.

Putting Things into an Enterprise Context While the Sustainability Team is launching the paper reduction initiative, the bank is also doing many other things to improve efficiency, control costs, increase sales, and be more sustainable. One of the major tenets of EA is to understand the

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enterprise context, and to leverage information, processes, and systems for multiple purposes. This is not simply to facilitate reuse, but also to reduce complexity and more importantly, to eliminate redundant and inconsistent data and processing. In itself, this is a green activity because it reduces the amount of power, servers, and storage necessary for the overall enterprise. The paper-reduction initiative needs to be viewed from a broader, enterprise perspective to understand relationships, dependencies, and opportunities. •

•

Internal B2E portal. Efforts to reduce paper by putting internal communications and systems online need to be coordinated with the groups that provide that information or services internally. Information repositories and management systems need to be put in place and be evaluated for the potential of sharing across organizations. For example, the same document management system can be used by HR and corporate communications. Furthermore, new applications for on-line expense reporting and purchase ordering will have to be integrated with existing systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP). External B2C e-commerce portal. Using e-statements is just the beginning of what’s possible. In the future, the customer portal can increase customer satisfaction, improve cross-selling, and provide selfservice capabilities to reduce call center demand. To take advantage of some or all of these opportunities requires an enterprise approach. Effective marketing to the customer requires that there be a common customer view. If this doesn’t exist, it needs to be put in place. Evaluating profiles and suggesting targeted product promotions requires a common product catalog. If this doesn’t exist, it needs to be created. If a common catalogue does exist, it needs to

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

•

•

be integrated with the marketing and other e-commerce applications. Allowing customers to opt out of paper processes provides an opportunity to optimize mailing lists. The same solution can be applied to internal lists as well. Monitoring, analysis, and reporting. A single system for reporting on sustainability efforts should be implemented. This will need to include paper usage, as well as many other aspects, such as power utilization, waste, supply chain, facilities, compliance, and incentives. The overall data collection and storage, analysis, reporting, and executive dashboard mechanism should be designed to span the entire problem space and be consistent with other executive decision support approaches. Virtualization. Acme Bank is planning to adopt virtualization as a way to reduce data center cooling and power requirements. The new applications that will result from many of the tactics for reducing paper consumption need to be coordinated with server and storage virtualization plans. The new applications need to be consistent with the virtualization requirements.

Making it Happen At this point, Acme Banks knows what it is doing and why, as expressed by the motivation and tactics defined in the business motivation model. The Sustainability Team looked at the initiative from an enterprise perspective to maximize leverage and opportunity, and they developed plans for how to monitor and report on everything. The next step is to make it happen. The typical architecture approach is to define the to-be architecture vision, understand the as-is scenario, analyze the gap, and create a roadmap to get there from here. The team chooses to use a conceptual architecture to describe the to-be architectural vision, as shown in Figure 4.

The diagram shows the internal systems and users on the left — customer relationship management (CRM), executive dashboard, B2E portal, ERP system — and external users — B2C ecommerce portal, call center — on the right. Between internal systems and the external users are the systems and functions that will work together to support the overall goals of paper reduction at an enterprise scope. These systems are roughly divided into three areas, noted by the dotted lines. The first section on the left includes the systems that will support the internal (B2E) portal, such as online expense reporting, internal communications, and so on. On the right are systems that will support the external e-commerce applications, such as marketing promotions, selfservice problem tracking, e-billing, and so on. In the center are systems that support both internal and external users, such as document management, online forms, tracking, and reporting. At the bottom are some of the major technologies that will be required to support these new systems. Next, the team factors all of this into an overall roadmap following the Business Enterprise Architecture Modeling (BEAM) methodology (Orr & Ummel, 2009). A high-level view of the roadmap for paper reduction is shown in Figure 5. On the left of the diagram are the main business drivers: cost reduction, increased efficiency, stewardship, reduction of power. Then, the roadmap is divided into four main areas. The very top portion is business process improvement (business architecture). Within this, it shows major initiative areas that affect the business architecture, such as: stewardship, internal communications, ecommerce, and process optimization. The middle section shows major applications (application architecture). This section is divided into the major areas of internal (including B2E portal, tracking/ compliance, online expense reporting, and executive dashboards) and e-commerce (including e-statements, e-billing, and marketing. Below that are the major information-related initiatives that impact the information architecture, such as

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Figure 4. Conceptual architecture vision

the data warehouse. Finally, the bottom section shows the technology that will be required to support the tactics and business processes across all of these areas. Full size, the roadmap is at least 400x600 cm and color coded to match the conceptual architecture in Figure 4. The size and color cues increase understanding and traceability. (The format of this Figure 5. High level roadmap for paper reduction

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book limits the reproduction of the conceptual architecture and roadmap.) While Figure 5 shows an overview of the roadmap, Figure 6 shows a slice of the detailed business, application, and information portions for 2011-2012. Now, the detail begins to emerge. For example, in 2011, the business process focus is on process

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

improvement for internal communications. In order to support these processes, a variety of application projects need to take place, including the B2E portal itself and an application for supporting the publication of internal communications on the portal. There is also a business process focus on reporting and compliance. To support these, a tracking system for paper use is being implemented, as is the beginning of an executive dashboard. In order to support these activities, a data warehouse initiative is underway. As is typical of projects of this magnitude, some projects span multiple years, and many different activities overlap. For example, in Figure 6, under 2012, there are business process activities around e-billing and common customer information. To support these, portal, online statements, and online billing projects are identified within the e-commerce thread. Common customer master data is initiated in the information thread. Note

that although this won’t go operational until 2013, because of the amount of effort involved, it will be started in 2011 to be ready in time. At the right side of the roadmap in Figure 5 are the outcomes that should be achieved by 2014. Given the underlying performance architecture, the emphasis on reporting and dashboards, the architectural approach, the business planning, and the linkage between systems, tactics, and goals, the initiatives mapped out in Figure 6 have a good chance of being accomplished. But, until the team vets the roadmap, it will not gain buy-in from the people who will actually implement the plan. The Sustainability Team holds a set of reviews sessions with the stakeholders affected by the plan, including program management, business, process, policy, development, operations, and so on. They know that the first version of the roadmap is not complete or correct, that items and dependencies were missed, and that unnecessary things

Figure 6. Application slice from architecture roadmap (Rosen, et al, 2009)

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have crept into to roadmap. Still, given the work and thought put into it, it is a good platform from which to start the discussion, and it is a format that is clear. A clear but wrong picture is easy to correct. If the stakeholders can understand it, they will identify the problems. There are several ways to do this, such as projecting the roadmap on a whiteboard, walking through what it means and all the different items, and then drawing corrections to the roadmap on the whiteboard. Finally, after one or two iterations of this, the team should be able to reach overall agreement. The last step is to print the roadmap in as large a format as possible, say 1 x 1.5 meters, and post it up on a wall in some common area. People will come by, look at it, discuss it, and hopefully, mark it up with corrections as they occur to them. This keeps the vision out in front of the team, keeps people involved, and keeps the roadmap up to date. Although surprisingly simple, it is very effective.

CONCLUSION This chapter started with a question: Can an enterprise truly incorporate greenness throughout the business in a systematic way or will it end up with a difficult to manage, ad hoc approach? Enterprises have identified numerous drivers for instituting sustainability initiatives, including reducing costs, meeting regulatory requirements, and taking advantage of financial incentives. Obviously, using fewer resources, such as electricity, water or paper, reduces costs, and meeting regulatory requirements averts paying penalties. Qualifying for incentives increases revenue or can reduce the costs of meeting regulations. In addition, businesses have realized other subtle, but equally important benefits from incorporating sustainability into their business practices. For example, these efforts allow a company to maintain markets and increase their profile. Should a company fail to meet regulations, such as the European Union’s environmental direc-

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tives, it could be prevented from doing business in significant markets. Conversely, if a company does meet the directives, while its competitors do not, the potential to increase market share is high. Another subtle benefit comes from investing in environmental and community responsibility initiatives. An enterprise can use these efforts to build both brand awareness and a reputation for leadership. These are clear business drivers for embarking down the path of environmental responsibility and sustainability. Few, if any, of these drivers are localized to a single project, department, or division. They cross enterprise boundaries and often extend beyond the traditional periphery of an enterprise into the supply-chain and customer base. To effectively manage, executives require aggregation and presentation of information gathered from disparate sources. Everyone’s perspective may be different, yet they still need common semantics. How does an enterprise accomplish all of this? Not easily. Transformations are difficult. They require a long-term view of the big picture, persistence, and commitment. These are challenges that enterprise architecture is intended to address. Successful EA efforts have transformed similar challenges into business opportunities for other enterprise initiatives. This confluence of new, enterprise-wide business initiatives and the need to bring order and structure to their implementation gives EA programs an opportunity to provide more value to their organization. An architectural approach begins with understanding the business motivation for the initiative and translating the motivation into strategies, objectives, tactics, policies, and rules. The next step is to understand how the newly articulated goals, tactics, policies, and so on fit within the overall enterprise. This begins with understanding what the current enterprise’s sustainability efforts look like: the as-is picture of the business. A future vision, or to-be view, of sustainability is created that aligns business goals and strategy with business processes, information, application

Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

and the technology platform to support it. The gap between the current and future states is bridged with a roadmap. The roadmap prioritizes what needs to be done, establishes dependencies and relationship and sets overall timing and milestones to guide the transformation. Successful transformations do not happen in a straight line. A sustainability initiative requires an iterative and incremental approach. This allows for gaining experience (skills development), making quick adjustments when necessary (agility), and providing measurable benefits early and often (credibility). Many people reading this chapter will undoubtedly be skeptical that architecture can produce anything other than paper or that EA only works in rigid organizations with centralized control. These assumptions have been disproven in practice. When done well, architecture yields proven results in dynamic markets across a wide range of organizational structures. By applying the skills of inquiry, analysis, integration, abstraction, conceptualization, formalization, and communications to large, enterprise-wide problems, architects provide the structure and techniques to create holistic solutions. Enterprise architecture, by taking a proven approach to aligning enterprise initiatives to business strategies and organizational realities can and should lead the way to real sustainability.

FUTURE DIRECTION Enterprise architecture has been growing in adoption for the past decade or more, corresponding with an increase in dynamic business environments, the number and complexity of IT systems, and the need to integrate them together. The need to manage complexity is only increasing in today’s connected world, accelerated by new technologies and enlightened customer expectations. Business and IT solutions can no longer be implemented in isolation, and competitive advantage will go to those companies that effectively manage IT to

provide business opportunities, control costs, and increase productivity. There is no question that EA will play a major role in these organizations. In the past, EA was mostly focused on technology, and architectural approaches were used to simplify and consolidate infrastructure and provide common platforms, services and information. As architecture programs matured and grew beyond these initial successes, they turned their attention to aligning IT infrastructure and systems with business goals. The most successful organizations now use architecture to help manage their portfolios and decision making, and to transform strategic business intent into specific actions and result. Today, many sustainability efforts are being implemented in an ad-hoc fashion, like the uncoordinated business and IT projects of the past. We believe that a transition similar to that of enterprise technology will take place with green IT and sustainability. After the low-hanging fruit of server virtualization and data center modernization has been picked, and the added costs caused by ad-hoc implementation of compliance, supplychain sustainability, process improvements, etc. is felt, well managed organizations will look for a better approach. Smart architecture teams will be there, ready to seize the opportunity to provide a holistic approach for transforming enterprises into sustainable organizations. This will be supported by industry efforts to align EA frameworks with sustainability, as describe later in this book, as well as industry standards activities. For example, the Object Management Group is currently beginning the process of creating a “Sustainability Assessment Model” to standardize semantics and metrics across enterprise sustainability efforts. While there is ample opportunity to standardize certain aspects of an architectural approach to sustainability, standardization always follows the work of early pioneers. Today, we are just beginning to see a few visionary companies recognize the similarity between

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sustainability and other enterprise-wide initiatives, and to apply proven architectural techniques to optimize their results. This is the beginning of a process that will evolve with changes in green and sustainable technologies and with business drivers. We predict that in the future more organizations and architects will recognize the value that architecture brings to enterprise-wide initiatives and begin applying the techniques to important new areas, such as environmental and sustainability initiatives. And, what better problems to solve than helping enterprises strive for sustainability?

ACKNOWLEDGMENT An earlier version of this chapter was an article, originally published by Cutter Consortium. (www. cutter.com) © 2009 Cutter Consortium. This chapter is an extension and builds on the earlier published material. This original rights of Cutter Consortium are acknowledged and the material here is reproduced with permission.

REFERENCES ABAG. (2009). Green Business Standards. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from Bay Area Green Business Program: http://www.greenbiz.ca.gov/ BGStandards.html Bank of America. (1997). Bank of America Environmental Progress Report 1997. Benson, R. J., Bugnitz, T. L., & Walton, W. B. (2004). From Business Strategy to IT Action: Right Decisions for a Better Bottom Line. Hobiken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. European Commission. (2009). Environment - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. Retrieved Januray 25, 2010, from Europa.eu: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ waste/weee/ index_en.htm

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European Union. (2009). RoHS Compliance. Retrieved from RoHS.eu: http://www.rohs.eu/ english/index.html Gawande, A. (2009). The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. New York, New York: Metropolitan Books. Knechtel, J. (2009). What is your definition of a GoGreen Company? Retrieved from LinkedIn.com: http://www.linkedin.com/answers/ management/ corporate-governance/MGM_CGV/393361-2 2741922?browseCategory=MGM Kodak. (n.d.). EU RoHS Directive. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from www.Kodak.com: http:// www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier. jhtml?pqlocale=en_US&pq-path=7146 Lamb, J. (2009). The Greening of IT: How Companies Can Make a Difference for the Environment. Lebanob, IN: IBM Press. McGinn, D. (2009, September 21). The Greenest Big Companies in America. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from http://www.newsweek.com/id/215577 Natural Resources Canada. (2009, June 17). News Release 2009-06-17. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from NRCan.gc.gov: http://www.nrcan-rncan. gc.ca/media/new com/2009/200961-eng.php Object Management Group. (2008, November). Business Motivation Model Specification. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from OMG.org: http:// www.omg.org/spec/BMM/Current Orr, K., & Ummel, M. (2009). Business Enterprise Architecture Method Roadmap for Kansas Department of Corrections. KS: Tokepa. Rosen, M. (2008a). 10 Key Skills Architects Must Have to Deliver Value. Arlington, MA: Cutter Consortium. Rosen, M. (2008b). Enterprise Architecture by Example. Arlington, MA: Cutter Consortium.

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Rosen, M. (2008c). The Business Motivation Model: Matching the Means to the Ends. Cutter IT Journal, 21 (3). Rosen, M., Krichevsky, T., & Sharma, H. (2009). Architecture for the Sustainable Enterprise. Arlington, MA: Cutter Consortium. Rosen, M., Lublinsky, B., Smith, K. T., & Balcer, M. J. (2008d). Applied SOA: Service-Oriented Architecture and Design Strategies. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Ross, J. W., Weill, P., & Robertson, D. C. (2006). Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating Business Foundation for Business Execution. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Sanders, T. (2008). Saving the World at Work. New York: Doubleday. Sarantis, H. (2002). Business Guide to Paper Reduction. San Francisco: Forest Ethics. Sharma, H. (2009). SAM Wiki. Retrieved 2009, from OMG.org: http://www.omgwiki.org/SAM / doku.php?id=Start Unhelkar, B. (2010). Creating and Applying Green IT Metrics and Measurement in Practice. Cutter Benchmark Review - Green IT Metrics and Measurement. The Complex Side of Environmental Responsibility, 9(10), 10–17. U.S. Government. (2009). The Act. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from recovery.gov: http://www. recovery.gov/About /Pages/The_Act.aspx Velte, T., Velte, A., & Elsenpeter, R. (2008). Green IT: Reduce your Information System’s Environmental Impact While Adding to the Bottom Line. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies. Wal-mart. (2009). Sustainable Buildings. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from Walmart.com: http://walmartstores.com/Sustainability/

Weill, P., & Ross, J. W. (2004). IT Governance: How top performers manage IT decision rights fro superior results. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Whittle, R., & Myrick, C. B. (2005). Enterprise Business Architecture: The formal link between strategy and results. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, LLC.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Green: A green company actively reduces the environmental impact of its products or services, processes, and assets across its entire value chain, congruent with its normal operations, and it has clearly articulated environmental strategies to reduce costs and risks while also increasing stakeholder value. Sustainable: An enterprise is deemed sustainable if its products, services, policies, and assets are balanced across three dimensions, often called “the triple bottom line” These dimensions are: 1) Economic viability, 2) Environmental responsibility, 3) Social equitability. Triple Bottom Line: The triple bottom line captures an increased spectrum of values and criteria for assessing a company’s performance. It expands the traditional reporting framework beyond financial performance to take into account ecological and social performance. Enterprise Architecture: The collection of all architectures, methods, and governance combined to meet specific business requirements and goals at an enterprise scope. The EA defines relationships between the specific domain architectures and how all of the different architectures relate to each other and contribute to the overall enterprise. Business Architecture: Describes the enterprise from a business perspective. It is concerned with what the business is, not how the business systems are implemented.“A Business Architecture defines the enterprise value streams and

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Strategies for a Sustainable Enterprise

their relationships to all external entities and other enterprise value streams and the events that trigger instantiation. It is a definition of what the enterprise must produce to satisfy its customers, compete in the market, deal with its suppliers, sustain operations, and care for its employees.” (Whittle & Myrick, 2005) Information Architecture: The information architecture provides a consistent view into, and context for using, enterprise-wide information across processes and applications. It defines the master data semantics and requirements for the primary business entities and offers a managed information environment for both operational and analytical information. (Rosen, Lublinsky, Smith, & Balcer, 2008d) Application Architecture: The application architecture focuses on what must be common across applications to meet enterprise goals. It describes how to build applications and how to use the technology architecture to achieve enterprise capabilities and consistency. Technology Architecture: The technology architecture describes the infrastructure required to support applications, operations, and reporting requirements. Business Motivation Model: “The Business Motivation Model provides a scheme or structure for developing, communicating, and managing business plans in an organized manner. Specifically, the Business Motivation Model does all of the following: 1) It identifies factors that motivate the establishing of business plans; 2) It identifies and defines the elements of business plans; 3) It indicates how all these factors and elements inter-relate.

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Among these elements are those that provide governance for and guidance to the business Business Policies and Business Rules.” (Object Management Group, 2008) (Rosen, 2008c) provides an introduction to the BMM and its benefits. Key Performance Indicators (KPI): Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are indicators of an organization’s performance against a defined and measurable criteria. KPIs help measure the progress of an organization – hence, obviously, they can play a major role in ascertaining the environmental performance of an organization. The KPI can vary depending on the business and the specific goals of the business. For example, an airline may decide to have the “fuel consumed per passenger kilometer” as its KPI; and a hospital may have “carbon emission from IT instruments per patient” as its criteria. Measurable targets for each KPI are set – and then measured to ascertain success or otherwise of the organization’s performance. KPIs in the green ICT domain will reflect the organization’s environmental goals – ensuring that those KPIs are crucial to the organization’s success and are measurable and understood across the organization. Architecture Road Map: An enterprise wide plan that communicates how an initiative will be implemented. It incorporates priorities, dependencies, and resources to show the business drivers, domains and sub-domains (business, information, application, and infrastructure), activities, schedule, and intended outcomes. The roadmap ties initiatives to business drivers and identifies the projects, processes, systems, and technology implications.

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Chapter 2

Green Strategic Alignment: Aligning Business Strategies with Sustainability Objectives Hui-Ling Wang University of Wollongong, Australia Aditya Ghose University of Wollongong, Australia

ABSTRACT The current business context, characterized by macro-economic incentives for carbon-mitigation, stringent environmental compliance constraints and the need to embrace sustainability as a key element of corporate social responsibility, presents difficult challenges for most organizations. These organizations need to re-align their strategies (and eventually their organizational structures and operations) to a new set of sustainability objectives, but lack the tools to enable this. In this chapter, the authors review some of our recent work on documenting strategies as a means to assessing and achieving strategic alignment. The authors show that these approaches provide an adequate and appropriate basis for documenting both business strategies and “green”/sustainability strategies, and lead to rich vocabulary for analysing strategic alignment. They then address the question of what organizations might do when faced with misalignment between their existing strategies and sustainability imperatives. Depending on the nature of the organizational posture towards sustainability, they outline the kind of analysis organizations might use to decide how to identify compromises between the competing pulls of their existing strategies and green objectives.

INTRODUCTION This chapter presents a framework that would help organizations assess and establish the alignment of business strategies with the sustainability objectives of organizations. This discussion is vital in DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch002

the context of current global environmental awareness and initiatives. Investigations in this arena of business strategies reveals that organizations increasingly find themselves situated in operating contexts with three critical characteristics: •

The emergence of significant macro-economic levers (such as carbon taxes, emis-

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

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•

•

sions trading schemes etc.) to incentivize carbon-mitigating behaviours. The introduction of stringent environmental and carbon mitigation-related compliance constraints, both within legislative and regulatory frameworks. A growing need, driven by corporate social responsibility imperatives, to integrate environmental sustainability within the “organizational DNA”.

At the highest level, this calls for strategic re-alignment. Existing organizational strategies need to be aligned with these new strategic imperatives. Alignment at the strategic level is a critical pre-cursor to operational shifts to achieve carbon mitigation – it ensures that the organizational transformation required is comprehensive, and not limited to the aspects of the enterprise that are most obviously impacted. Alignment with green strategies ensures an enterprise-wide commitment to the sustainability objectives that these green strategies encode. Strategy and competitive advantage have been widely discussed in both the management and economics literature. The discourse on strategy can be traced back to ancient India, Greece and China as early as 500 BC. More recently, scholars such as Drucker (1954), Chandler (1962), Andrews (1965, 1971), Ansoff (1965), Hofer and Schendel (1978), Mintzberg (1987), Rumelt (1991), Hamel and Prahalad (1989), Ohmae (1989), Porter (1985; 1996) among others, have made important contributions to our understanding of strategy and strategic decision-making. The notion of strategic alignment has assumed considerable importance in the discourse on business strategy. There is widespread acknowledgement of the importance of strategic alignment (Baets, 1996; Henderson and Venkatraman, 1993; MacDonald, 1991; Parker, et al, 1988; Powell, 1993). Discussions of alignment usually involve binary comparisons between corporate strategy on the one hand and an internal functional strategy, such as procure-

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ment strategy (Knudsen, 2003), human resource management strategy (Shih and Chiang, 2005), advertising strategy (Boudreau and Watson, 2006) or IT strategy (Baets, 1996; Henderson and Venkatraman, 1993; MacDonald, 1991; Parker et al, 1988; Powell, 1993; Sledgianowski and Luftman, 2005) on the other. An important gap in the literature on strategic alignment is the absence of crisp, actionable definitions of alignment. Common dictionary definitions of the notion of alignment refer to “the position of something in relation to something else or to its correct position”. Despite the obvious significance of the notion of alignment, much of the discourse involves relatively vague geometric metaphors of “lining-up”, or notions such as “linkage”, “harmony”, “blend” etc. As a consequence, discussions on alignment are almost always ad hoc. We do not have the means to tell whether a given strategy is aligned with another. We do not have methodologies that might support strategy formulation in a manner that ensures that that strategy is aligned with the over-arching corporate strategy. We do not have the conceptual tool-kit to help us understand how to maintain alignment in the face of constant change. There are no proposals on how strategies might be represented to support such analyses. Recent proposals such as strategy maps (Kaplan and Norton, 2003) provide powerful diagrammatic tools for visualizing strategies, but do not lend themselves to such analyses (although they provide a level of detail that can complement our framework). Given a set of existing business strategies, and a set of green initiatives that an organization might seek to adopt, organizations have little guidance on how to deal with potential misalignment between these. This chapter seeks to address these gaps.. It first describes a framework for documenting strategies and assessing alignment between pairs (generalizable to sets) of strategies. developed in (Wang and Ghose, 2006). This framework has been used to analyse strategic alignment in an account of organizational change at a large state-owned

Green Strategic Alignment

mining company. The case study led to a refinement of the conceptual framework to incorporate the notion of strategic objectives (in a precise mathematical sense) in describing and analysing strategies for alignment (Wang, 2008). The case study also led to the development of uniform means for representing strategies that we shall refer to as strategy description templates. The extended framework was found to be effective in providing a precise means for evaluating alignment, the extent of alignment, the reasons for misalignment, and in some cases pointers to “strategic fixes” that can help restore alignment. We argue that this extended framework is particularly suitable to describing and documenting sustainability and carbon mitigation strategies. In this chapter, we extend these frameworks by providing the methodological machinery for establishing re-alignment between the set of existing business strategies of an enterprise, and a new set of green strategies that the organization might seek to introduce. Ultimately, this provides critical guidance for organizations seeking to grapple with the problem of re-orienting themselves with a new carboncentric reality.

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT: A CONCEPTUAL TOOL-KIT In this section, we review the conceptual framework for strategic alignment presented in (Wang and Ghose, 2006). Alignment is almost always viewed as a binary relation relating a strategy to another. In some instances, alignment is viewed as a relation between a strategy and firm’s resource base (although this is more commonly described as fit) and in some others, alignment is used to describe the relation between a strategy and a business context. The Wang and Ghose framework views alignment as a binary relation between two strategies, although the conceptual tool-kit can be easily re-tooled to support these alternative views of alignment

A strategy can be viewed as a resource allocation decision (i.e., deployment of resources) or as a plan of action. The Wang and Ghose framework addresses the problem of strategy representation/ description – on which little exists in the literature with the notable exception of (Kaplan and Norton, 2003). The framework identifies a set of common attributes of any strategy, independent of the domain, and independent of how the strategy might have been articulated that is central to analysing strategic alignment. Pre-requisites: The pre-requisites of a strategy are the conditions that must hold for a strategy to be deployed. For instance, a pre-requisite for a high-risk strategy of introducing a new product with uncertain market response might be a position of market dominance for the firm, so that the potential of financial damage, as well as damage to its brand equity is minimized. Resource requirements: Every strategy involves the commitment of resources. In some instances, the resource requirements for a strategy might be viewed as pre-requisites. In general, though, these are not pre-requisites since the required resources might not be available prior to the deployment of the strategy but might instead become available during the course of strategy execution. Effects: The execution of a strategy leads to its (hopefully desired) effects. These effects might involve market positioning or the internal resource base of a firm. The framework uses scenario as an overarching term to describe the current state of a firm, both internal and external, including its business environment and its internal resources. Two different notions of alignment are defined: basic alignment and full alignment. These definitions rely on the notions of contradiction, resource consistency and entailment in a very precise sense. Contradiction and entailment will be used in analyzing the pre-requisites and effects of strategies. A set of conditions will be described as contradictory if the conditions in question cannot co-exist in a given

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scenario. A set of conditions will be described as being entailed by another set of conditions if we can determine that in every scenario where the latter hold, the former also hold. Resource consistency is an attribute of a pair of strategies that can be concurrently deployed, given their resource requirements and resource availability in the current scenario. In some settings, this might mean that the sum of the resource requirements of the individual strategies does not exceed the available resources, but in general, the answer might require more subtle analysis. In some cases, the resource requirements for a strategy might be included in the resource requirements for another strategy it is related to, while in others the resource requirements for a pair of strategies might partially overlap. Resource consistency simply obliges us to analyze strategies from the perspective of their resource requirements, juxtaposed against available resources. Basic alignment between a pair of strategies holds in situations where there are no impediments to the concurrent deployment of both strategies. A pair of strategies is said to be in basic alignment whenever: •

•

•

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The pre-requisites of each strategy do not contradict the current scenario. This opens up the possibility for each strategy to be individually deployed in the current scenario (this is referred to as scenario-prerequisite consistency). The pre-requisites of each strategy do not contradict each other. This ensures that strategies with contradictory pre-requisites, and thus clearly not intended for deployment in the same scenario, are not concurrently deployed (this is referred to as prerequisite consistency). The strategy pair is resource consistent given the current scenario. This ensures that there are no resource impediments to the concurrent deployment of these strategies.

•

•

The effects of each strategy do not contradict each other. This ensures that one of the strategies does not “undo” the effects of the other strategy (this is referred to as effect consistency). The effects of the strategy do not contradict the pre-requisites of the sub-strategy and vice versa. This ensures that the effects of one of the strategies do not detract from the viability of the other strategy (this is referred to as prerequisite-effect consistency).

Figure 1 illustrates these conditions. Basic alignment establishes a relatively weak relationship between a pair of strategies by defining conditions under which they can validly co-exist or can be co-deployed. The notion of full alignment establishes a far stronger relationship between a pair of strategies by ensuring that the sub-strategy follows, in the sense of entailment discussed above, from the parent strategy. A strategy is viewed as fully aligned with another whenever: •

•

•

The current scenario entails the pre-requisites for each strategy (scenario-prerequisite entailment). This ensures that both strategies can be deployed in the current scenario (as opposed to merely allowing the possibility of such in the case of scenario-prerequisite consistency). The pre-requisites for the second strategy are entailed by the pre-requisites for the first strategy (prerequisite entailment). This ensures that whenever the first strategy is viable for deployment, so is the second strategy. The resource requirements for the second strategy are included in the resource requirements for the first strategy, in the sense that the second strategy does not require a distinct set of resources (resource entailment).

Green Strategic Alignment

•

•

The effects of the first strategy entail the effects of the second strategy (effect entailment). This ensures that the second strategy behaves as a component of the first – when the first strategy has been executed, the effects achieved include the effects of the second. The strategy pair satisfies the requirement of prerequisite-effect consistency as defined earlier.

Figure 2 illustrates the relationships involved in full alignment. Consider the following examples from (Wang and Ghose, 2006) that illustrate these concepts. PhoneCo is a hypothetical mobile phone handset manufacturer whose corporate strategy is to provide cost leadership by positioning itself as the lowest cost manufacturer of mobile handsets. A business unit within PhoneCo that seeks to invest massively in new product R&D to establish quality leadership within the market would be embarking on a strategy badly misaligned with PhoneCo’s overall corporate strategy. It would fail the test of both basic and full alignment, simply because the effects of the business unit strategy contradict the effects of the overall corporate strategy.

SoftCo is a hypothetical new entrant into the soft drinks market, with a niche product, SoftFizz, that has started performing well in a limited set of sales regions. SoftCo does not have deep pockets, and has barely enough resources to expand into newer geographical regions. A strategy of investing heavily in risky new product development (which would include a prerequisite that the firm in question have a significant market share to be able to absorb the potential downside of the new product failing, as well as sufficient financial resources) would be misaligned with a strategy of investing heavily in expanding the geographical reach of existing product marketing (which would include as a prerequisite a limited geographical market for the existing product). It would fail the test of basic alignment (and full alignment) both because of prerequisite inconsistency and resource inconsistency. The corporate strategy of CarCo, a manufacturer of high-quality (and highly priced) premium cars, is to maintain and enhance its position of dominance in this niche market. It therefore follows a strategy of investing heavily in R&D and new product development. Viewing the former as the parent strategy and the latter as the substrategy, we find that the two are fully aligned. For

Figure 1. Basic alignment of strategies

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Figure 2. Full alignment of strategies

instance, the pre-requisites for the sub-strategy (a position of market dominance and the availability of substantial financial resources) are entailed by the current scenario. It is also easy to see that the conditions of pre-requisite entailment, resource entailment, effect entailment and prerequisiteeffect consistency are all satisfied. A range of green/sustainability strategies can be adequately articulated in this framework. Consider a strategy that requires green accountability from upstream suppliers to a manufacturing organization. A key pre-requisite for such a strategy is the existence of strong supplier relationships. Another pre-requisite is the existence of alternative suppliers, should the accountability initiative lead to irreconcilable differences. The notions of basic and full alignment represent points on a spectrum (see Figure 3). Strategy pairs that do not satisfy the requirements of basic alignment are misaligned. Yet, as our subsequent case study shows, misaligned strategies can sometimes co-exist and lead to relatively positive outcomes. On the other extreme, it is difficult to conceive of a stronger notion of alignment than full alignment. The intermediate

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points in the spectrum are of particular interest. For instance, strategy pairs that violate the effect entailment requirements but satisfy all of the other requirements of full alignment would probably be deemed to be very closely aligned according to common-sense intuitions on alignment. Similarly, very closely aligned strategies might satisfy the condition of resource consistency as opposed to the stronger condition of resource entailment. Acronyms have been used for basic alignment (BA), full alignment (FA), scenario-prerequisite entailment (SPE), pre-requisite entailment (PE), resource entailment (RE), and effect entailment (EE) to define various points on this spectrum. These are intended only illustrate how such a spectrum might look like, and do not suggest a unique definition of the spectrum. For instance, Figure 3 suggests that a strategy pair satisfying basic alignment and resource entailment is closer to the full alignment end of the spectrum than a strategy pair satisfying basic alignment, scenario-prerequisite entailment and prerequisite entailment, but the converse could be equally strongly argued for. Ultimately, the value of this framework is in providing a principled vocabulary

Green Strategic Alignment

Figure 3. The Alignment Spectrum

for discussing varying degrees of alignment in a domain-independent fashion. Figure 4 illustrates the inter-relationships between some of these concepts. Each of the conditions above is represented by a set of strategy pairs satisfying the condition. Thus, for instance, the set FA is the set of all strategy pairs satisfying the conditions of full alignment. The figure uses Venn diagram notation for representing the relationships between these sets. It shows that any strategy pair that is fully aligned also satisfies the requirements of basic alignment. It also shows that the set FA is defined by the intersection of the sets SPE, PE, RE, EE and BA. Figure 4 can be analyzed in considerably greater detail, but we omit this for brevity.

Some of the conditions used to define basic alignment – scenario-prerequisite consistency (SPC), pre-requisite consistency (PC), resource consistency (RC), effect consistency (EC) and prerequisite-effect consistency (PEC) – also provide a vocabulary for discussing “degrees of misalignment” for strategy pairs that are fundamentally misaligned.

ARTICULATING STRATEGIES VIA OPTIMIZATION OBJECTIVES The framework described above was refined and extended via a case study involving a large stateowned mining enterprise in (Wang, 2008). We identified a key component in the description of

Figure 4. Inter-relationships between strategy pairs

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a strategy that was absent in the earlier formulation – the notion of an objective. An objective is typically articulated in terms of performance metrics (such as order cycle time, inventory level, production cost, customer satisfaction, market share, revenue or profit). Much like objective functions in operations research, most strategies seek to maximize or minimize the value of the metric (e.g., minimize order cycle time, minimize inventory levels, minimize production costs, maximize market share, maximize revenue and maximize profit). It became apparent over the course of the case study, and over secondary analyses of several other cases, that an objective is often the central element in the description of many strategies. Indeed, strategies are sometimes articulated in terms of an objective alone. Sustainability and carbon mitigation strategies are most commonly expressed as objectives. The carbon footprint minimization objective provides the over-arching framework. Subsidiary strategies might involve maximizing transportation efficiency, maximizing asset utilization, minimizing waste and minimizing compliance violations. An objective is clearly distinct from a prerequisite or a resource in the prior formulation of strategy, but may be confused with the effects of a strategy. It is possible to conceive of a strategy whose intended effect is the maximization of market share. Yet there is a subtle but important distinction in the ontological status of these two notions. An effect is a condition (or set of conditions) that a strategy seeks to achieve. By associating an effect with a set of conditions, we are able to determine whether a condition has been achieved or not. On the other hand, an objective provides a yardstick for assessing improvement, but does not admit a Boolean notion of achievement. It is not clear if an organization can ever assert with any modicum of confidence that its costs have been minimized. The literature on operations management and operations research admits the notion of an optimal solution to an optimisation problem, but this involves the identification of a

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solution or a configuration that represents the best that can be done relative to a given objective function under a set of operational constraints. These constraints are by no mean immutable – indeed the intent of many strategies is to modify the set of operational constraints. In summary then, an objective is a means of assessing improvement on some dimensions, but does not admit a crisp notion of achievement. An effect, on the other hand is a set of conditions that a strategy seeks to make true. It is useful to consider the underlying mathematical formulation of an objective. In the language of discrete mathematics, an objective is a preference relation, i.e., a set of assertions of the form “scenario1 is preferred to scenario2”, “scenario3 is preferred to scenario4” etc. In operations research, an optimization problem is formulated in terms of (1) a set of decision variables (for whom we seek to find values), (2) a set of constraints involving these variables and (3) an objective function, also defined in terms of these variables. In such settings, a feasible solution is any assignment of values to the decision variables such that the set of constraints is satisfied. In general, a given problem might admit a possibly large number of feasible solutions. The objective function selects from amongst these the optimal solution, i.e., the solution that maximizes or minimizes (depending on whether the objective is a maximization or minimization objective) the value of the function. Implicitly, then, an objective function can be viewed as a preference relation on the set of feasible solutions. In our setting, feasible solutions are replaced by scenarios, i.e., states of affairs in operating environment of an organization. Formally, if < denotes the underlying preference relation (not to be confused with the arithmetic inequality represented similarly), then an objective is represented by a set of the form {scenario1 < scenario2, scenario3 < scenario4,…}. Representing an objective in this form is an extensional definition, while representing an objective in the form of something like “minimize

Green Strategic Alignment

production costs” is an intensional definition. The objective to minimize production costs induces an extensional definition in which we prefer scenarios where production costs are lower over those where production costs are higher. We can then define a notion of objective consistency – a pair of objectives is inconsistent if we can identify a pair of scenarios (scenario1 and scenario2) such that scenario1 is preferred over scenario2 (scenario1 < scenario2) by the first objective, but scenario2 is preferred over scenario1 (scenario2 < scenario1) by the second objective. The notion of objective consistency thus enables us to characterize pairs of objectives that do not “pull in opposite directions”. We can also define a notion of objective entailment – a given objective entails another if the extensional definition of the latter is a subset of the extensional definition of the former. Thus, the objective denoted by {scenario3 < scenario4} is entailed by the objective {scenario1 < scenario2, scenario3 < scenario4,…}. If a given objective entails another, then we know that we will perform

better according to the former yardstick whenever we do better according the latter yardstick. This leads to a simple extension of the prior framework for strategic alignment. The notion of basic alignment is now extended to include objective consistency, as shown in Figure 5. The notion of full alignment is similarly extended to include objective entailment, as shown in Figure 6. There is a clear need for a simple structured mechanism for describing/documenting strategies. In (Wang 2008), we present a strategy description template, shown in Table 1, for this purpose (note that effects are described as strategic outcomes). This turned to out to be an extremely useful tool for engaging management in focused discussions to elicit strategies. It also appears to be a useful intra-organizational communication tool that ensures that strategies are articulated and communicated throughout the organization in a standardized format.

Figure 5. Extended basic alignment

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Figure 6. Extended full alignment

Table 1. Strategy description template Strategic objectives: Strategic pre-requisites: Detailed strategy description: Resource requirements: Strategic Outcomes:

STRATEGIC RE-ALIGNMENT WITH SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES In the preceding sections, we have provided a vocabulary for describing strategies, as well as the methodological machinery for checking for alignment (under a range of parametric settings of this definition). Organizations may often find their existing strategies to be mis-aligned with newer green strategies, but little exists by way of tools to help organization deal with such situations. We are interested in the following questions: (1) what should organizations do with existing strategies that are misaligned with carbon mitigation strate-

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gies? (2) should carbon mitigation/sustainability strategies take precedence over existing business strategies and (3) which of the existing business strategies can the enterprise retain while maintaining alignment with a set of carbon mitigation strategies? Organizations might adopt one of the following three postures towards such strategic re-alignment: •

•

Cautious: Organizations with a cautious posture towards green initiatives are typically willing to consider these as long as they are aligned with existing business strategies. Such organizations accord primacy to existing business strategies. Neutral: Organizations with a neutral posture towards green imperatives do not necessarily accord primacy to either these or existing strategies. Instead, they are interested exploring compromises between these sets of strategies – where such compromises might entail both changes to existing strategies or to newer green strategies.

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•

Transformational: Organizations with a transformational posture towards green initiatives are willing to engage in a significant exercise in re-orientation and realignment of the organization with it green imperatives. Typically, such organizations accord primacy to a carefully considered set of green strategies that they have decided to commit to.

Formally, we can view these as exercises in establishing re-alignment between two sets of strategies: • •

The set of existing business strategies B = {b1, b2, …., bn} The set of green strategies G = {g1, g2, ….., gm}

We assume the existence of an agreed-upon position on the “strength” of the specific notion of alignment to be used in the re-alignment exercise, i.e., the specific point in the spectrum between basic and full alignment described in Figure 3. Note that any point in this spectrum is potentially of interest, as our previous discussion suggests. Given these, we can formalize the set of outcome strategies O from the realignment exercise involving B and G. The definition of the realignment exercise is contingent on the organizational posture towards green initiatives (cautious, neutral, transformational). •

Cautious: O = B ∪ G’ where: ◦⊦ G’ ⊆ G ◦⊦ B ∪ G’ is aligned ◦⊦ For any G’’ where G’⊂ G’’ ⊆ G, B ∪ G’’ is misaligned

In this version of re-alignment, the organization commits to leaving the existing set of business strategies intact but is willing to include as many of the green strategies as are aligned with these. It thus selects some subset G’ of G which is aligned

with B and is maximal with respect to set inclusion, i.e., for any strict superset G’’ of G’ drawn from G, B ∪ G’’ is misaligned. Note that there might be, in general, multiple alternative sets G’ satisfying the properties above. The outcome is therefore not unique, but it is reasonable to expect that a principled, context-sensitive choice can be made amongst the multiple competing outcomes. •

Neutral:: O = B’ ∪ G’ where: ◦⊦ G’ ⊆ G ◦⊦ B’ ⊆ B ◦⊦ B’ ∪ G’ is aligned ◦⊦ For any G’’ where G’⊂ G’’ ⊆ G and for any B’’ where B’⊂ B’’ ⊆ B, B’’ ∪ G’’ is misaligned

In this version of re-alignment, the organization is willing to flexible with both the set of existing business strategies and the set of green strategies, and is willing to admit subset of both as the final outcome. It thus explores maximal (with respect to set inclusion) subsets of B and G that are mutually aligned. Here too, a unique outcome is not guaranteed, but a choice between the competing alternatives needs to be made. •

Transformational: O = B ∪ G’ where: ◦⊦ G’ ⊆ G ◦⊦ B ∪ G’ is aligned ◦⊦ For any G’’ where G’⊂ G’’ ⊆ G, B ∪G’’ is misaligned

This version of re-alignment mirrors that for organizations with a cautious posture, with the set of green strategies being accorded primacy, instead of the set of existing business strategies.

CONCLUSION We have argued in this chapter that is possible to bring analytical tools to bear on the problem of “green” strategic alignment. We have shown how

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Green Strategic Alignment

strategies might be documented using strategy description templates to make them amenable to alignment analysis. We have provided a framework for green strategic alignment that not only provides a rich vocabulary for discussing alignment, but also provides the methodological basis for assessing and achieving alignment. These insights have been obtained via a set of case studies involving relatively large organizations. These will be reported in future work. We also propose to extend the techniques presented here to enable more fine-grained analysis of strategic “repair”.

REFERENCES Andrews, K. (1971). The Concept of Corporate Strategy. Illinois: Dow Jones-Irwin. Andrews, K., Learned, E., Christensen, C., & Guth, W. (1965). Business Policy: Text and Cases. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin. Ansoff, H. (1965). Corporate Strategy: An Analytic Approach To Business Policy For Growth And Expansion. New York: McGraw Hill. Baets, W. (1996). Some empirical evidence on IS strategy alignment in banking. Information & Management, 30(4), 155–177. doi:10.1016/03787206(95)00056-9 Boudreau, M.-C., & Watson, R. (2006). Internet advertising strategy alignment. Internet Research, 16(1), 23–37. doi:10.1108/10662240610642523 Chandler, A. (1962). Strategy and Structure. Cambridge: MIT Press. Drucker, P. (1954). The Practice of Management. New York: Harper and Row. Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. (1989, May/June). Strategic Intent. Harvard Business Review, 67(3), 63–76.

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Henderson, J., & Venkatraman, N. (1993). Strategic alignment: leveraging information technology for transforming organizations. IBM Systems Journal, 32(1), 4–16. doi:10.1147/sj.382.0472 Hofer, C., & Schendel, D. (1978). Strategy Formulation: Analytical Concepts. St.Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing. Kaplan, R., & Norton, D. (2003). Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. Knudsen, D. (2003). Aligning corporate strategy, procurement strategy and e-procurement tools. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 33(8), 720–734. doi:10.1108/09600030310502894 MacDonald, H. (1991). Business strategy development, alignment and redesign. In Michael S.Scott Morton (ed), The Corporation of the 1990s: Information Technology and Organizational Transformation. New York: Oxford University Press. Mintzberg, H. (1987). Five P’s for Strategy. California Management Review, 30(1), 11–24. Ohmae, K. (1989, May/June). Managing in a borderless world. Harvard Business Review, 67(3), 152–161. Parker, M., Benson, R., & Trainor, E. (1988). Information Economics: Linking Business Performance to Information Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Porter, M. (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: Free Press. Porter, M. (1996, Nov-Dec). What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 61–78. Powell, P. (1993). Causality in the alignment of information technology and business strategy. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 2(4), 330–324. doi:10.1016/0963-8687(93)90009-Y

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Rumelt, R. (1991). How much does industry matter? Strategic Management Journal, 12(3), 167–185. doi:10.1002/smj.4250120302 Shih, H. A., & Chiang, Y. H. (2005). Strategy alignment between HRM, KM and corporate development. International Journal of Manpower, 26(6), 582–603. doi:10.1108/01437720510625476 Sledgianowski, D., & Luftman, J. (2005). ITBusiness strategic alignment Maturity: A case study. Journal of Cases on Information Technology, 7(2), 102–120.

Wang, H. L. (2008). Dynamic re-alignment: Understanding organizational response to changing business contexts using a conceptual framework for strategic alignment. The Proceedings of the 2008 Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, December 2008. Wang, H. L., & Ghose, A. (2006). On the foundations of strategic alignment. The Proceedings of the 2006 Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference. Dunedin, New Zealand, December 2006.

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Chapter 3

The Role of the Business Analyst in Green ICT Adriana Beal Beal Projects, USA

ABSTRACT This chapter presents the role of business analysts in the green initiative of an organization. As corporations become more environmentally conscious, business objectives such as decreasing energy use and producing fewer emissions require adjustments in processes and rules governing how ICT solutions are designed and implemented. For example, optimizing the process of buying an airline ticket from a green perspective might require changing the rules for online purchase and designing an ICT solution to switch the process to a paperless, secure electronic ticketing system. The entire optimization of a process such as passenger ticketing requires analysis of the solution, its alternatives and its associated risks. This is what a business analyst does. In the past decade, the role of business analysts has rapidly evolved in multiple directions to encompass activities such as business evaluation, risk management, process modeling, dealing with metrics and measurement and undertaking acceptance testing of solutions. This chapter discusses how business analysts can provide an invaluable contribution to the process of developing environmentally sound ICT practices within and around the organization. Organizations need to get their green credentials in order (Information Age, 2007). They also need to take a strategic, long term view of the environmental factors affecting their business. A business analyst, as discussed here, helps bring together myriad variables into a cohesive and comprehensive plan to address the various long-term and strategic aspects of greening ICT processes in the broad context of the corporation, the industry and the overall business ecosystem. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch003

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

The Role of the Business Analyst in Green ICT

INTRODUCTION Business analysts play a pivotal role facilitating organizational changes. As corporations become more environmentally conscious, business objectives such as decreasing energy use and producing fewer emissions require adjustments in processes and rules governing how ICT solutions are designed and implemented. For example, optimizing the process of buying an airline ticket from a green perspective might require changing the rules for online purchase and designing an ICT solution to switch the process to a paperless, secure electronic ticketing system. The entire optimization of a process such as passenger ticketing requires analysis of the solution, its alternatives and its associated risks. This is what a business analyst does. In the past decade, the role of business analysts has rapidly evolved in multiple directions to encompass activities such as business evaluation, risk management, process modeling, dealing with metrics and measurement and undertaking acceptance testing of solutions. This chapter discusses how business analysts can provide an invaluable contribution to the process of developing environmentally sound ICT practices within and around the organization. Organizations need to get their green credentials in order (Information Age, 2007). They also need to take a strategic, long term view of the environmental factors affecting their business. A business analyst, as discussed here, helps bring together myriad variables into a cohesive and comprehensive plan to address the various long-term and strategic aspects of greening ICT processes in the broad context of the corporation, the industry and the overall business ecosystem.

THE ROLE OF THE BUSINESS ANALYST IN GREEN ICT Business analysis is the discipline of identifying business needs and determining solutions to fulfill

those needs. Thus, business analysis is essential to the process of turning a corporation’s vision and strategy in reality. Such analysis ensures the alignment of organizational needs with the capabilities delivered, helping avoid the common issue of disconnectedness between what a solution team builds and what the business needs. For companies in the process of establishing more environmentally sound practices, and particularly green ICT initiatives, a well developed business analysis capability can be instrumental to realizing successful outcomes. This because of the shift in perception of business leadership (HBR, 2009): what is a good, optimized, green business process is also an efficient business process that is good for the organization’s bottom line. Business analysts (BAs), regardless of the actual job title, can help organizations devise a broad green ICT strategic direction, develop and shape specific actions in pursuit of this direction, and support measuring and reporting to ensure that the expected results can be seen, evaluated, and realized. BAs can work at varying levels, focusing entirely on the evaluation of business alternatives (irrespective of the underlying technical solutions), or analyzing the situation from the point of view of a software system. The role of a BA is vital in understanding and converting business needs for Green ICT into requirements and process models for the system.

ENTERPRISE ANALYSIS OF GREEN ICT At the enterprise level, “going green” creates the need to analyze the current state of an organization from an environmental perspective. Such analysis makes it possible to identify gaps in organizational capabilities, develop models to describe the desired future state of the corporation, and convert these models into viable business transformation projects that fit together to improve the organization’s environmental input/output balance.

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The Role of the Business Analyst in Green ICT

The tasks typically carried out by business analysts (interpretation, translation, problem solving), are critical for developing a disciplined process to address the various aspects of greening a business. These tasks may also take the form of the well-known SWOT (strengths-weaknessesopportunities-threats) analysis that can provide strategic input into the available opportunities for the organization in the green space. This greening effort takes place at the organizational level – but, at the same time, keeps the broader context of the industry and the overall business ecosystem in mind. BAs can perform a holistic investigation of the organization, including its internal structure and processes, its external relationships, technology, systems and processes and corresponding environmental risks, as means to understand the current state and devise the desired future. Such investigations are carried out by the BAs to outline smart business strategies (see discussions by Esty and Winston, 2006) and eventually implement them through well modeled business processes.

From High-Level Objectives to Green ICT Solutions For companies establishing a green ICT strategy, business analysts can offer invaluable insight to the process of converting broad strategy statements into more descriptive, granular and specific objectives. A BA working at the business level will take a high-level strategic statement and decompose it into 4 more granular objectives as illustrated in Figure 1. In this example, the strategic objective of the organization is to “become recognized as a sustainable and environmentally-aware service provider”. Achieving such business objective might require changes not only in technology, but also in governance, processes and business rules. BAs could decompose the overall strategic objective into the following four (or more) secondlevel objectives:

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•

• •

•

Raise employee awareness and get buyin to energy saving initiatives (this will require changes to the attitude as well as practices of employees) Design energy-efficient data centres (see www.greendatacenterconference.com) Adopt metrics and tools for auditing and reporting energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (see Unhelkar and Philipson, 2009) Reuse and recycle computer components (see chapter by Godbole, 2010, on electronic waste in this handbook)

Without due diligence to identify and solidify the root causes of a business problem, or truly understand the concept of a new idea, organizations cannot develop an appropriate level of confidence in a proposed solution. Well developed BAs are trained to use a disciplined process for converting ideas into practical solutions, and to bring together myriad variables into a cohesive and comprehensive plan. Figure 2 illustrates how business analysis helps organizations translate a high-level business need into requirements that represent capabilities and attributes of a solution. A large number of tasks can be performed by BAs in the context of defining and implementing Figure 1. Example of a high-level strategic statement decomposed into 4 more granular objectives

The Role of the Business Analyst in Green ICT

a green ICT strategy. These can range from Green IT’s best practices (Jason, 2008) through to support in formulating the green marketing strategy of the organization (Ginsberg and Bloom, 2004). Some of these tasks are listed below: •

•

•

•

Investigating trends and concerns expressed by business stakeholders (including investors, customers, media, environmental advocacy groups, employees, etc.) that relate to the direction in which the overall global greening effort is going – followed by trends that are specific to the industry in which the organization exists; providing goals and objectives for the transformation of the ICT organization to a green / environmentally responsible organization and outlining an approach to achieving those goals and objectives; Study of new rules and regulations governing carbon emissions that would eventually mandate changes in business processes and practices of the organization; developing an internal knowledge-base of the ICT assets as well as operations of the organization to help in a redesign that

•

•

•

•

• •

would result in use of less energy and water, produce fewer emissions, and generate less electronic waste; undertaking audits of the ICT infrastructure, documenting the results and analyzing them so as to influence the company’s strategies from an environmental viewpoint; creating and justifying a value proposition for the business leadership for an environmentally-conscious ICT (e.g. cost-benefit analysis of energy-efficient ICT solutions) that would be based on sound green metrics and measurements; creating process and system designs – including their models - to support environmental sustainability; understanding and utilizing energy-efficient computing with effect on data centre designs, operations and collaborations; identifying opportunities to promote data efficiency across the enterprise; outlining strategies for using alternative renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and nuclear;

Figure 2. Logical progression during business analysis help translate problems and opportunities into solution requirements

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The Role of the Business Analyst in Green ICT

• •

•

•

•

•

outlining strategies for implementing power management solutions; putting in place green supply chain and procurement processes that would be responsible for disposal and recycling of IT and electronic resources; creating and utilizing green metrics, assessment tools, and methodologies that would bring about a paradigm shift in the way the organization views and approaches its environmental responsibilities; evaluating environment-related risks associated with the ICT infrastructure, and outlining strategies for the mitigation of these risks; establishing changes needed in policies on procurement, operation, and disposal of IT resources; Supporting the eco-labeling of IT products to enable easier discernment for users and help them make better decisions related to the environmental effect of the product.

Finding optimal green ICT solutions requires deep analysis and exploratory investigation of not only the issue at hand but also all interacting solution components. These interacting technical components may include software applications, web services, business processes, business rules, a revised organizational structure, outsourcing, and any other method of creating a capability needed by the organization. Business analysis activities are essential for bringing together all these components into an optimal solution capable of achieving the business goal in light of the set of constraints (including time, budget, regulations, and others) under which the organization operates.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS OF GREEN ICT PROJECTS At the ICT project level, the business analyst “owns the system requirements processes”, working

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with key line-of-business executives and users to determine what the business must obtain from the ICT solution. At that level, the business analyst is responsible for managing the entire system requirements life cycle, from understanding the business need to ensuring that the delivered solution meets the identified need. During the life cycle of a green ICT project, business analysts are responsible for ensuring that technical solutions are aligned with corporate strategies, policies and practices for green ICT. This promotes an understanding that even if requirements are of value to a stakeholder or end-user, they may still not be a desirable part of a solution, if not aligned with low energy consumption and related environmental concern. For example, if it is determined that daily reports are sufficient to fulfill business needs, the ability to generate ad hoc reports may be excluded from a solution to reduce the number of data imports a system has to perform, consequently reducing energy consumption related to data processing. (see http://www-935.ibm.com/ and http://pro. gigaom.com/sample-report/)

Managing Project Risks Implementing a successful green ICT solution requires a clear understanding of the potential disruptions to the existing infrastructure that can be caused by the adoption of the “green practices” available to organizations. Cameron (2009) describes how technologies such as virtualization and facility efficiency management can each improve energy utilization up to 60 percent over typical deployments, but this often occurs at the expense of increased complexity of the infrastructure. Deploying virtualization techniques, for instance, may require the acquisition of advanced skill sets and a better understanding of the unknown effects of using virtual machines on service-level agreements, throughput, and performance of ICT applications. Business analysts with solid technical knowledge of green ICT technologies can help

The Role of the Business Analyst in Green ICT

identify the risks associated with the adoption of green technologies, and determine how best to minimize such risks.

System Requirements in ICT Projects Requirements engineering (RE), a sub-discipline of systems engineering and software engineering, is concerned with the behavior, quality attributes, and constraints of hardware and software systems. RE is recognized in the literature as the most challenging aspect of software development, and a crucial one, as it lays the foundation for all the subsequent project work (Wiegers, 2006). Green practices can affect system requirements related to hardware, software, and business processes. A requirement may establish, for example, that a solution must not only fulfill business needs, but also provide significant energy improvement over previous generations. Approaches such as server consolidation and virtualization, storage virtualization, cloud computing, and power management, among other green-related technologies, can help ICT solutions become more efficient, flexible, resilient, and environmentally friendly while economical to operate (Murugesan, 2008). Business analysts working for corporations implementing green practices become responsible for defining requirements and validating solutions that take advantage of advancements in computational and data efficiency methods while still meeting business needs.

Functional and NonFunctional Requirements of Green ICT Applications Functional requirements, the most well-known type of software requirements, describe the behavior of the software will have and the information the solution will manage. Functional requirements are associated with the required behaviors and operations of a system, defining

its capabilities in terms of actions and responses. Functional requirements are frequently captured in the form of use cases (Wiegers, 2003). Green ICT frequently impacts functional requirements as a consequence of new procedures or business rules emerging from corporate environmental policies and industry standards. Consider a corporate guideline issued to help reduce paper reports by encouraging online reporting. While defining the requirements for a new application with reporting functionality, the business analyst must spend time investigating the capabilities needed in the system to convince users (system users and indirect users, such as managers and customers who don’t work directly with the system, but need access to its outputs) to stop printing, and read from their computer screens instead. In order to achieve this objective, functional requirements may be added to the software specification, to facilitate tasks related to reading and distributing online reports to their intended audiences. System requirements, however, go beyond system behavior, describing also the properties and attributes a solution will have (e.g., availability, performance, usability, portability, robustness, etc.), and the design constraints to which the project will be subjected (e.g., technology or regulatory limitation). Such aspects are collectively referred to as non-functional requirements. Green ICT policies typically add non-functional requirements to software projects, imposing new demands in terms of quality attributes that become necessary or desirable, and also establishing new constraints. Take, for example, a company adopting a mechanism to control all monitors and computers, so they can be placed into a low-power consumption mode (such as shutdown, hibernation, or standby) when they aren’t being used. Imagine that this company is also building an application that a few users will access via their PCs to update the state of alerts affecting a core business service. The business analyst in charge of capturing the requirements for the alert system would have to

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The Role of the Business Analyst in Green ICT

investigate the potential impact of a delay caused by the need to recover the computer from its energy-saving state before the application could be used to update the status of an alert. The BA would also be responsible for discussing with the stakeholders the expected system behavior under these circumstances. A decision could be made stating that a user returning to her desk after taking care of an event that triggered an alert should be able to access the application within 5 seconds or less, to post an update. As a consequence, a non-functional requirement could be created establishing that “once an alert is issued, and until it is resolved, the application will prevent the workstation from going into any energy-saving state that requires more than 5 seconds to reverse”. Corporate environmental practices, sustainability policies, regulations, and contractual obligations to meet environmental standards may impact both functional and non-functional requirements of ICT applications. BA tasks related to enterprise analysis, requirements elicitation and analysis, and solution assessment and validation are crucial for determining the optimal solution to fulfill the business needs. Such tasks allow a level of understanding of the effect that green policies must have in ICT procurement, operations, application design, and/or disposal of computing resources not easily obtainable otherwise, and establish the necessary foundation for defining the scope and requirements of ICT projects.

Compliance in Green ICT Projects The need for compliance with legislation, regulation, industry standards, contract agreements, and internal rules creates a demand for business analysts in charge of capturing and defining requirements from different sources on an ongoing basis to determine compliance needs both at the enterprise and project levels. Business rules are not themselves software requirements, and typically exist outside the boundaries of any specific software system, but they often cause specific functionality to be required from software systems. Table 1 provides examples of business rules that can emerge as a result of the adoption of green ICT policies in a corporate environment.

TRACKING PROGRESS OF GREEN ICT Corporations with strategic goals for greening their businesses must establish methods for measuring and reporting the progress toward the achievement of these goals. Metrics allow decision-makers to turn visible the success of a green ICT strategy, understand the results, compare them with those obtained by other organizations, and determine when the objectives need to be adjusted in light of changing circumstances. (Unhelkar and Philipson, 2009)

Table 1. Examples of business rules originating from green ICT policies Rule description

Purpose

Data-intensive deployments must be preceded by the evaluation of alternatives for reducing the solution’s total power consumption.

Reduce power consumption of servers and data center infrastructures.

Non time-critical environments must utilize power management functions.

Prevent waste of energy by shutting off or putting on hibernation or standby systems that are not in use.

The installation of new data centers must preceded by an evaluation of alternatives in cooling solutions.

Ensure proper separation of hot and cold air streams and isolate inefficiencies.

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The Role of the Business Analyst in Green ICT

Measuring progress allow the enterprise to establish, for example, whether a target for increasing the energy efficiency of servers and data centers is being achieved, and whether additional energy efficiency improvements need to be made to accomplish results comparable with benchmarks established by peers or competitors. Business analysts may be utilized to help determine how best to measure progress and introduce accountability into the green ICT initiatives, both at the enterprise and solution levels. BAs may be also be put in charge of supporting measurement and reporting, as well as of identifying when a realignment of internal measures or systems is needed to ensure that the expected results can be seen, evaluated, and realized.

THE FUTURE OF THE BUSINESS ANALYST ROLE IN GREEN ICT Decreasing energy use, heat emissions, and the unnecessary disposal of computer equipment that contribute to environmental problems requires adjustments in processes and rules governing how ICT solutions are designed and implemented. Business analysts play a crucial role facilitating the organizational changes necessary to establish environmentally sound ICT practices. From conducting audits of the ICT infrastructure and its use, to capturing, at the project level, requirements related to energy consumption and other environmental concerns that must be addressed by new ICT solutions, BAs have valuable contributions to make to the process of greening a business, helping corporate leaders obtain answers for question such as: •

Are all aspects of the business, including operations, ICT and product life cycle management, efficient and protective of the environment?

•

•

•

Is the organization demonstrating compliance with its environmental responsibilities and external regulations? Are the corporation’s green ICT goals, as well as the risks associated with adopting green technologies, being effectively and timely monitored across the organization? Are the requirements of new ICT solutions consistent with quality attributes and constraints derived from the adoption of green practices?

CONCLUSION The profession of business analysis has a valuable contribution to make to the efforts of an organization to reduce its carbon footprint. Business Analysts help an organization to effectively plan and implement green ICT strategies by developing a clear understanding of their high-level environmental goals and relating these goals to specific objectives and initiatives in the green ICT arena. Smart organizations are increasingly making use of business analysts to establish a more holistic approach to the process of “going green”, using BA specialized skills to identify gaps in organizational capabilities, develop models describing the desired future state of the corporation, and select business transformation projects capable of addressing the broader aspects of greening the ICT.

REFERENCES Cameron, K. W. (2009). The Road to Greener IT Pastures. [IEEE.]. Computer, 42(5), 87–89. doi:10.1109/ MC.2009.167 Esty, D. C., & Winston, A. S. (2006). Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

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Ginsberg, J. M., & Bloom, P. N. (2004). Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(1), 79–84. Global Strategic Management Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.greendatacenterconf erence.com/ Godbole, N. (2010). Electronic Waste. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Green ICT. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Gore, Al., (2006), An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It. Rodale Books, 2006. Harris, Jason,(2008). Green Computing and Green IT Best Practices – Green IT 100 Success Secrets. HBR. (2009). Harvard Business Review on Green Business Strategy Information Age. (2007). Cover story: ICT gets its green house in order. Information Age, 18-25. Publication of the Australian computer society, Oct/Nov 2007. Murugesan, San (2008). Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices. IT Professional, 10, (1), 24-33, Jan./Feb. IEEE. Retrieved from http://pro.gigaom.com/samplereport/ Retrieved from http://www-935.ibm.com/services /us/its/pdf/dcs_ brochure_09-28-06.pdf

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Unhelkar, B., & Philipson, G. (2009). The Development and Application of a Green IT Maturity Index. ACOSM2009 – Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Software Measurements, Nov 2009, Sydney Wiegers, K. E. (2003). Software Requirements (2nd ed.). Microsoft Press. Wiegers, K. E. (2006). More about Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice. Microsoft Press.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Business Analysis: The set of tasks, knowledge, and techniques used to identify business needs and determine solutions to business problems Business Rule: A rule under the jurisdiction of a business. Constraint: Restriction imposed on the choices available to the developer of a software program for a legitimate reason. Corporation: A legal entity separate from the persons that form it. Organization: An organized structure. An organization may be a part of a larger corporation (example: the ICT organization of a financial corporation). Requirement: A condition or capability that must be met or possessed by a solution to achieve an objective.

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Chapter 4

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT:

Creating Business Value and Contributing to Environmental Sustainability San Murugesan University of Western Sydney & BRITE Professional Services, Australia

ABSTRACT IT is both a solution and a problem to environmental sustainability. Though IT significantly benefits us in many different ways and helps to address environmental problems we face, it, on its own, can harm the environment if not managed properly. IT contributes to environmental problems in a few different ways, which most people don’t realize. IT systems and their use can be made more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable, and businesses and individuals are obliged to minimize or eliminate where possible the harmful environmental impacts of IT to help create a more sustainable environment. This chapter outlines strategic approaches for greening enterprise IT and offers recommendations that will help an enterprise define its green IT strategy and create practical guidelines for its implementation. To provide motivation for greening enterprise IT, beginning with a brief overview of environmental impacts of enterprise IT, this chapter discusses why greening enterprise IT is a necessity, not an option.

INTRODUCTION Information technology (IT) has permeated all types of businesses – small to large – in significant ways, yielding substantial benefits to them and their stakeholders. The adoption of advances in IT – smart mobile phones, netbooks, wireless broadband, 3G and 4G communications and cloud computing - by businesses and their customers will

continue offering them novelty and convenience and improving operational effectiveness and efficiency. As highlighted later in this chapter, IT can also be used in several ways to help to address environmental problems we face and to improve environmental sustainability. But IT is also contributor to environmental problems confronting us - a downside of widespread adoption and use of IT, is potential harmful effects it can have on the environment if not managed properly.

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch004

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT

IT contributes to environmental problems in a few different ways, which most people don’t realize (Murugesan 2007). Computers and other IT infrastructure consume significant amounts of electricity, placing burden on our electric grids and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Business IT is a big energy consumer drawing about four percent of world energy use - 600 billions watts of power – and that amount is expected to double in the next five years. With energy prices soaring, regulations demanding lower energy consumption, electric supply dwindling (Samson 2007, Miller 2008), and environmental concerns mounting, the need to reducing energy consumption by enterprise IT – datacenters, PCs, servers, printers, and communication equipments - is clear. Additionally, IT hardware poses severe environmental problems both during its production and its disposal as highlighted later in this chapter. But IT systems and their use can be made more efficient and environmentally sustainable. Businesses and individuals are obliged to minimize or eliminate where possible the environmental impact of IT to help create a more sustainable environment. IT systems, when used in a strategic manner addressing its environmental impacts, can lead to much reduced carbon emissions across entire business operations and add value. CIOs, IT managers, and developers as well as businesses and individuals that use IT are all called upon to use IT in ways that make business practices, its infrastructure, products, services, operations and applications environmentally sustainable. They can use IT for building environmental sustainability in three different ways (Murugesan 2007): 1. Greening IT systems and usage. On its own, IT can become greener and environmentally sound. 2. Using IT to support environmental sustainability. By coordinating supply chains (Shrivatsava 2007), making buildings and vehicles more energy efficient, and offering

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innovative modeling, simulation, and decision support tools, IT can support, assist, and leverage other environmental initiatives. IT can also enable workers to telecommute and videoconference instead of requiring them to travel for work or meetings thereby reducing fuel consumption and the travel-induced environmental pollution. 3. Using IT to create green awareness. As an effective information dissemination medium and as a platform for collaboration, IT can assist in creating environmental sustainability awareness and in learning about sustainable development as well as promoting best practices. The key focus of chapter is on how all enterprises (both IT and non-IT) can make their IT systems as well as the use of their IT systems greener. Topics such as environmentally-friendly design and manufacturing of computers and peripherals are beyond the scope of this chapter.

Green IT As outlined in the previous chapters, green computing or green IT refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is “the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. Green IT also strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. Thus, green IT includes the dimensions of environmental sustainability, the economics of energy efficiency, and the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. It is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently” (Murugesan 2008).

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT

Greening enterprise IT is a multifaceted effort, and involves the following key aspects: • • • • • • •

• • • •

Energy-efficient computing Power management Data center design, layout, and location Procurement of green IT products and services Use of green energy sources Responsible reuse and recycling Estimation and management of carbon footprint of an enterprise IT systems and their use as well as entire business activities Estimation and management of carbon footprint of IT products and services Carbon neutrality Regulatory compliance Environment-related risk mitigation

For an overview and further details on green IT, refer to (Cameron 2009 a, Chen and Boudreau 2008, Dedrick 2009, Fuchs 2008, Murugesan 2007, 2008a, 2008b, and 2010, Poniatowski 2010, and Velte and Velte 2008).

Holistic Approach Businesses have the responsibility and the opportunity to be active participant in the green movement that is now on high swing globally to address the climate change and create a sustainable environment for the benefits of current and future generations. They can, and must, adopt the principles and practices of Green IT in a strategic and holistic manner that will reduce the harmful effects of their IT on the environment. In other words, they must green their IT systems and their use through out their life cycle. While going green, and being green, might be relatively easy for an individual and often carried out in ad hoc manner, to make real impact and harness significant benefits, businesses need to approach greening of their IT in a strategic and holistic manner, and also in a phased way. But,

carried away by the calls for going green, many enterprises – of all sizes – treat greening their IT as an ad hoc, one-off effort and carry out just a few cosmetic things to be seen green. However, they can’t continue to do so as they will come increasingly under pressure by government, public and their own competitors to showcase their green credentials, good and bad. So, enterprise must adopt a strategic and holistic approach to make their IT green and environmental sustainable. Positive change in attitude towards the environment is also a key element of a strategic approach to greening IT. In this chapter, we outline strategic approaches for greening enterprise IT and provide recommendations that will help a company define its green IT strategy and create practical guidelines for its implementation. We also highlight how even simple measures that can be easily be adopted by businesses and individuals can decrease their IT carbon footprints. To set the background and provide motivation for greening enterprise IT, beginning with a brief overview of environmental impacts of enterprise IT, we also discuss why greening business IT is a necessity, not an option.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF IT IT affects our environment in several different ways. Each stage of a computer’s life, from its production, throughout its use, and into its disposal, presents environmental challenges. Manufacturing computers and their various electronic and non-electronic components consumes electricity, raw materials, chemicals, and water, and generates hazardous waste. All these impact the environment. Globally, the total electrical energy consumption by servers, computers, monitors, data communication equipments, and data center cooling systems is steadily increasing. The increase in electrical energy consumption results in increased greenhouse gas emissions as most electrical energy is generated by burning coal and

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oil. Computer components contain toxic materials. Increasingly, consumers discard a large number of old computers, monitors, and other electronic equipment two to three years after purchase, and most of them ends up in landfills, polluting the earth and contaminating water. The increased number of computers and their prolonged use, coupled with frequent replacements of computers and electronic gadgets with new ones, make the environmental impact of IT a major concern. As many believe, it’s our social and corporate responsibility to safeguard our environment by greening IT.

GREENING IT: A NECESSITY, NOT AN OPTION Greening our IT products, applications, services, and practices is both an economic and an environmental imperative. As power concerns rise and electronic waste piles up, everyone from government officials to corporate management are beginning to realize the need for and the value of adopting sustainable IT practices. For many enterprises, green issues have now begun to assume greater priority at the board level. The reasons for this are manifold: increasing energy consumption and energy prices, growing consumer interest in green solutions and practices, higher expectations by the public on enterprises’ environmental responsibilities, and the emergence of stricter environmental compliance requirements. As a result, environmental considerations are becoming an increasingly important part of the senior IT managers’ job, and there are no signs that the factors driving the green movement are going to abate. Therefore, CIOs and IT directors are now under more pressure than ever before to limit their department’s carbon (environmental) footprint. “Companies that manage and mitigate their exposure to climate-change risks, while seek-

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ing new opportunities for profit, will generate a competitive advantage over rivals in a carbonconstrained future,” as Jonathan Lash and Fred Wellington advise businesses in their Harvard Business Review article (Lash and Wellington 2007). It’s not enough to do something to be seen to be environmentally-friendly; companies have to do it better -- and more quickly -- than their competitors. Enterprises must now create strategies, if haven’t already, that will help them address environmental issues successfully, pursue new opportunities, and build up their green credentials. Enterprises will increasingly feel the effects of environmental issues that impact their competitive landscape in ways they might not realize (Lash and Wellington 2007). For instance, investors have started discounting share prices of companies that poorly address the environmental problems they create. When making purchasing, leasing, or deciding on sourcing options, many customers have begun to take into consideration the company’s current environmental records and initiatives, and their future plans (Ambec and Lanoie 2008, Brown 2008). Businesses also face higher raw material and energy costs; they may also incur additional levies by governments if they don’t address the environmental implications of what they do or if they pollute the environment. Investors are increasingly placing their money on initiatives that are green or that develop and promote green products and services. Big investors, governments and even the public are beginning to demand more disclosures from companies with regard to their carbon footprint and their green initiatives and achievements. As a result, for many businesses, going green and being green has become a necessity, not an option.

Business Value of Going Green As outlined earlier, adopting green IT practices offers enterprises and individuals financial and

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT

other benefits. According to several studies, for many enterprises reducing power consumption and lowering cost are the major reasons for using eco-responsible practices, followed by lower environmental impact and improved system use (Molla 2009 a and b). Better energy efficiency of IT operations achieved through green initiatives is an apparent financial benefit particularly when availability of electrical energy is at a premium and energy prices are rising. Energy is not going to get any cheaper in the future. The drivers for business going green are many: following the market trend, embracing public relations opportunity, incorporating corporate responsibility, and sustainability as integral to the corporate strategy. Further, investors increasingly want to know what the carbon footprint of their investment is. Many businesses are keen to showcase their environmental credentials through the Carbon Disclosure Project (www.cdproject.net), a recent initiative to petition global companies to disclose their carbon emissions. Environment-related risk mitigation and green product strategies can create competitive advantage for businesses. Companies with the technology and vision to provide products and services that address environmental issues will enjoy a competitive edge. As more and more regulatory constraints that help to create a sustainable environment are placed on businesses, enterprises can’t remain dormant on environmental initiatives and continue to harm the environment. They must do far more than proposing a “ride your bike to work” or placing “go green” slogan on the walls to address green issues. Else, they might be penalized by their customers, investors, government, and businesses partners, and also diminish and loose their public image and competitive advantage. Greening enterprise IT is a financial, social and business imperatives, which businesses no longer can ignore. Businesses must start greening their IT systems and their use, as well as their business strategies and policies.

STRATEGIES FOR GREENING ENTERPRISE IT While increasingly businesses have started realizing the value of, and the need for, going green, enterprises encounter questions such as how do we get started; how do we make the right decisions about going green in IT; and do we have to trade-off IT system’s performance for making it environmentally-sound (Sacchero and Molla 2009). As we see it, the key to enterprise greening IT success is creating environmental (green) awareness among employees, making right decisions, leveraging leading-edge technologies and sustainable practices to help the company achieve its green goals without impacting on performance. Greening enterprise IT to its full potential is, however, not a trivial task; in fact, it has to be a multifaceted effort involving people, technology and process. It calls for clear specific objectives, well-drawn plan and proper execution. Hence, each enterprise must develop a holistic, comprehensive green IT strategy, which should be a component of and aligned with the overall enterprise green strategy. An enterprise should then develop a green IT policy outlining aims and objectives, goals, an action plan, and an implementation schedule. Enterprises should also appoint an environmental sustainability officer to implement their green policy and to monitor their progress and achievements, and to assume overall responsibility for their green efforts. As part of their green IT strategy, a few major enterprises -- IT and non-IT -- have taken the lead and have appointed environmental sustainability officers at senior levels; some have appointed them as Chief Green Officer (CGO) adding to their C-level executives. Others might follow this practice. This shows the importance and priority some businesses have begun to give to environmental sustainability. In embarking their journey towards greening their IT systems, as recommended by this author (Murugesan 2008), enterprises can green their

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IT by adopting any one, or a combination, of the following three approaches, preferably in a phased manner: 1. Tactical incremental approach 2. Strategic approach 3. Deep green approach

Tactical Incremental Approach There are several ways in which enterprises can lower their energy consumption and energy costs and meet their green agenda. In the tactical incremental approach, which is relative easy to implement, you preserve to a large extent existing IT infrastructure and policies and incorporate simple measures to achieve your moderate green goals such as reducing energy consumption, refurbishing and reusing computers, reducing ewaste and recycling unwanted electronic goods environmentally sensibly (the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive aims to reduce the amount of e-waste going to landfills and to increase recovery and recycling rates; for details, see WEEE 2009). For example, you may adopt policies and practices such as power management, switching off computers and other IT equipments when not in use, using energy-efficient light bulbs, and maintaining an optimal room temperature. These measures are generally easy and quick to implement and don’t cost much; yet they are effective. These basic measures, however, should be taken only as initial, ad hoc solutions. Enterprises must gradually adopt other measures as well over the years. Some of the key measures that fall under this approach are: •

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Enable power management features. Computers can be programmed to automatically “power down” to a low-power state when they are not being used. These efficiency gains can be achieved without sacrificing performance. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

•

•

has estimated that providing computers with a “sleep mode” reduces their energy use by 60%-70% and ultimately could save enough electricity each year to power a major town, cut electric bills by US $2 billion, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of 5 million cars (CEC 2005). Use a blank screen saver. A screen saver that displays moving images causes your monitor to consume as much electricity as it does when in active use. These screen saver programs interact with your CPU, which results in additional energy consumption. A blank screen saver is slightly better, but even that only reduces the monitor’s energy consumption by a small percent. Screen saver programs may save the phosphors in your CRT monitor screen, but this is not really a concern with LCD screens. When not in use, turn off. This is the most basic energy conservation strategy for most systems. Turn off computers and peripherals when they are not in use. Turning on and off will not harm the equipment.

Strategic Approach In this approach, enterprises conduct an audit of their IT infrastructure and its use from an environmental perspective, develop a comprehensive plan addressing broader aspects of greening their IT, and implement distinctive new initiatives. For example, they may consolidate and virtualize their computer systems and servers, deploy new energyefficient, environmentally friendly computing systems (see the sidebar, EPEAT: Environmental Grading of IT Products”) and develop and implement new policies on procurement, operation, and disposal of computing resources. Enterprises may replace desktops with thin-client computers. The IT department may be held accountable for the enterprise IT system’s energy bills. While the

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT

primary rationale in this approach is still energy/ cost efficiency and a reduced carbon footprint, other factors such as branding, image creation, and marketing are also seriously considered. Next, we briefly outline one of the common strategies, virtualization. Virtualization is a key strategy for reducing data center power consumption. With virtualization, one physical server is used to host multiple virtual servers. Virtualization allows a company to get better utilization of its hardware and enables data centers to consolidate their physical server infrastructure by hosting multiple virtual servers on a smaller number of more powerful servers. Besides getting better hardware utilization, virtualization reduces data center floor space, makes better use of computing power, and reduces the data center’s energy demands. Virtualization simplifies the data center and drives up utilization

by running the same tasks on fewer servers, using less electricity. As a case-in-point, let’s examine the IBM’s virtualization initiative. IBM has begun a US $1 billion per year investment program intended to double the energy efficiency of its computer data centers and those of its corporate customers (IBM 2007). It aims to deploy a range of new systems and technologies across IBM’s data centers, including improved energy monitoring, advanced 3-D power management and thermal modeling capabilities, better design techniques, cuttingedge virtualization technologies, enhanced power management systems, and new energy-efficient liquid cooling infrastructures. IBM estimates that deploying these new systems and techniques will allow it to slash energy use by 42% in its average 25,000-square-foot data center, reducing carbon emissions by almost 7,500

Figure 1. “EPEAT: Environmental Grading of IT Products”

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tons a year (IBM 2007). By 2010, IBM plans to double the computing capacity of its hundreds of data centers worldwide without increasing power consumption. Many other enterprises are also curbing the runaway energy consumption of data centers by virtualization, consolidation and data centre redesign.

Deep Green Approach In this approach, in addition to measures highlighted in the strategic approach, enterprises adopt additional measures such as implementing a carbon offset policy to neutralize its greenhouse gas emissions -- including planting trees and buying carbon credits from one of many carbon exchanges or use of green electrical power generated from solar or wind energy. Enterprises may also encourage their employees to go green with their home computers by offering incentives such as planting a tree, buying carbon credits, supplying them with free power management software such as Surveyor (www.verdiem.com), and offering computer recycling/trade-in provisions to those who sign up for a home green computer initiative.

A SEVEN-STEP APPROACH TO CREATING GREEN IT STRATEGY No one green strategy fits all enterprises, though there are many common elements. Enterprises must develop and implement their own near-term and long-term green strategy, considering their current IT infrastructure and its utilization, as well as current and future business requirements (Lamb 2009). They should also be prepared to modify their business processes and practices, if required. We recommend the following sevenstep approach for developing and implementing an enterprise green strategy: 1. Engage with your key stakeholders and create awareness of environmental issues and their

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impact on your enterprise and the environment. Also, explain them the business value and the necessity of greening the enterprise IT. 2. Conduct energy audits, analyze IT utilization, and review IT equipment purchases and disposal policies and practices. Assess your IT’s environmental and cost impact and identify areas to be “greened.” 3. Set your green goals – the internal targets to reduce your carbon footprint along with timelines. The green goals you set should be SMART -- specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Your goal should be precise and put in terms people can relate to. For example, “Our objective is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by the end of next year, and by another 10% the following year. The 15% reduction is like taking x number of cars off the road.” Develop concrete criteria for measuring progress toward your goals. By measuring progress, you stay on track, achieve milestones, and maintain motivation to keep moving forward. When you identify your goals, you think of ways to achieve them. You should identify previously overlooked opportunities and identify new ones. Set high goals, but do a reality check and make sure they’re something you can actually achieve. Set a timeline and create a sense of urgency to meet the goals. If the implementation is too far out in the future, you might face the risk of languishing and not getting anything done. 4. Develop and implement a green IT policy that aims to achieve higher utilization of your IT systems while reducing energy use and lessening their environmental impact. You don’t have to do all at once – adopt a phased approach. 5. Encourage, motivate, and energize your workforce to follow the green path you set and to come up with and implement their

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT

own ideas. In addition, also encourage your clients, suppliers, and outsourcers to adopt green practices. 6. Monitor your progress regularly; watch industry trends and new developments (see additional resources). Revise your green policy as required. 7. Publicize your environmental policy, actions, and achievements and thereby get credits and accolades you deserve from customers, peers, industry groups, environmental advocates, government agencies, and society at large.

Green Action While sustainability - an organization’s ability to meet both its business needs and larger social and environmental needs - may not be a top-tier concern at the moment for all organizations, it is still a focus of many top level executives of many organizations. To benefit from green enterprise IT, enterprises must see greening their IT (and other operations) as a commitment and as a core competence. To decrease its environmental footprint, an organization can take the following actions: 1. Encourage its users and system administrators to fully utilize their systems’ power management features. 2. Consider outsourcing its data center to a data management service that can apply its specialized knowledge and utilities to reduce energy consumption. 3. Create a comprehensive asset management policy and system outlining specific end-oflife responsibilities. 4. Conduct a green audit. Reliably assessing the organization impact of green IT efforts is not only hard but also complex and interlinked in many ways. For an overview on the principal challenges to green IT measurement, and a set of possible green IT measures, see (Cameron 2009b and Unhelkar, 2009).

5. Develop a risk management strategy for responding to an unforeseen energy crisis that might impact the enterprise’s data center. 6. Recast the enterprise’s focus from the narrower green IT objectives to broader more inclusive targets. 7. Utilize frameworks such as Total Quality Management (TQM) or Environmental Management Information System (EMIS) to develop environmental management procedures. While green IT initiatives benefit different functional units in the enterprise, the cost of these initiatives is typically absorbed by the IT departments. Thus, IT departments should build a relationship with business leaders within an organization and establish budgetary incentives prior to moving ahead with their green IT initiatives. To gain the support of organizational leadership for their green initiatives, CIOs and senior IT executives must present the business value of Green IT to their CEO, CFO and other key personnel as well outline the risks, business impact and limitations of not greening their IT.

CREATING GREEN AWARENESS Enterprises should effectively use IT to help create green awareness among IT professionals, employees, businesses, and the general public by assisting in building communities, engaging groups in participatory decisions, and supporting education and green advocacy campaigns. IT offers new platforms and applications for building communities, engaging groups in participatory decisions, and supporting education and green advocacy campaigns. These platforms include environmental Web portals, blogs, wikis, and interactive simulations of the environmental impact of an activity. For instance, NaturNet-Redime -- New Education and Decision Support Model for Active

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Behavior in Sustainable Development Based on Innovative Web Services and Qualitative Reasoning -- is one such application (www.naturnet.org/). This project, cofunded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme, provides a Web portal for environmental knowledge and for learning all aspects of sustainable development. It presents an interoperable Internet architecture that supports innovative presentation and visualization of data and tools for learning about sustainability.

USING IT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY Besides IT itself being green, it can also be an enabler and a helpful aid to create a sustainable environment. Some of the opportunities are: •

• •

• • •

•

•

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Coordinating, reengineering and optimizing supply chain, manufacturing and other business activities to minimize their impact on the environment Making business operations, buildings and other systems energy-efficient Software tools for analyzing, modeling, and simulating environmental impacts and for environmental risk management Platforms for eco-management, emission trading, and ethical investing Tools and systems for optimizing organizational workflows Tools for auditing and reporting energy consumption and savings and for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions Environmental knowledge management systems, meaning the acquisition and transfer of environmental knowledge, decision support systems, and collaborative environments; environmental ontologies Environmental information systems engineering, including geographic information

• •

•

systems and environmental (meta-)data standards Urban environment planning tools and systems Technologies and standards for interoperable environmental monitoring networks; smart in situ sensors networks Integration and optimization of existing environmental monitoring networks, easy plug-in new sensors, sensor cooperation, networks customization, and centralized and decentralized approaches

ETHICS AND GREEN IT It is everyone’s ethical responsibility to do their part in arresting global warming and its disastrous consequences by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and harmful impacts on the environment. However, nowadays, in trying to capitalize on the ongoing environment sustainability movement, some businesses have started bolstering their green credentials by making fictitious claims that their products and operations are carbon neutral, energy- or fuel-efficient, or environmentally sound; sadly, this trend is increasing. The practice of companies claiming to be environmentally friendly when in fact their product and processes are environmentally unsound and unsustainable is called “greenwashing” -- an amalgam of “green” and “whitewash.” To address the accusations of greenwashing, a new kind of corporate audit is emerging: the green audit. Green audits assess a company’s environmental credentials and its green claims for its products and services to determine whether the company’s supply chain and/or product line can be promoted as truly environmentally sustainable. It has high reliance if it is done and certified by recognized independent auditors.

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT

The environmental issues and impacts are global. Enterprises -- big and small, IT and non-IT -- have an ethical and social responsibility to address their environmental impacts. They shouldn’t simply greenwash.

RESEARCH DIRECTIONS The field of green IT is very young; yet, within a short span of time, it got the attention and interest of the IT industry, non-IT businesses, government and the society. Though there have been major developments in the recent years in terms improving energy efficiency of computers, virtualization, data centre design and operation, and power-aware software, and several organizations and agencies have come forward to address the environmental impacts of IT, there are several areas - for example, technology, adoption, assessment, and standards and regulation - that demand further research and development. In the context of greening an enterprise – enterprise adoption of green IT - we encounter several questions that deserve further study. For example: What should comprise an enterprise green IT strategy and policies, and how can we effectively implement them? What are the applicable regulatory requirements, and how can we comply with them? What are the real challenges and barriers to adoption of green IT, and how can we address them satisfactorily? Hence, we recommend the following topics of current interest in the broader area of enterprise adoption green IT for further research: • • •

Critical success factors in green IT adoption and how to embrace them Cultural influences on adoption of green IT and environmentally sustainable practices Models and approaches for carbon footprint estimation and measurement

• • • • •

Reliable tools for carbon footprint estimation Business green strategies and their implementation Best enterprise green it practices Green it maturity matrix Case studies

For discussion of further areas of research, see Dedrick (2009).

CONCLUSION Green IT represents a dramatic change in the enterprise IT landscape. So far, enterprises have been focusing on IT equipment processing power and associated equipment spending, not its energy consumption, end-of-life problems, or potential harmful environmental impacts. However, going forward, the enterprises will need to deal with all of the infrastructure requirements and the environmental impact of IT and its use. Greening enterprise IT is, and will continue to be, a necessity, not an option. Greening IT is corporate social responsibility. And, there’s great promise in the green IT movement. Enterprises have responsibility to help create a more sustainable environment; luckily, adopting green IT practices can give organizations a competitive edge as well. In this chapter, we have outlined strategies for greening enterprise IT that businesses – small to large – can adopt, and become greener. For effective adoption, green policies must be driven by, and also highlight, a clear business advantage. Further, enterprise green strategies and policies must fit into the organization’s overarching strategy and plans must focus on how to effectively implement them. To be effective and successful, enterprise sustainability initiatives should by driven and supported by senior management.

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REFERENCES Ambec, S., & Lanoie, P. (2008). Does It Pay to Be Green? A Systematic Overview. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 22(4), 45–62. Brown, D. (2008). Environmentally friendly credentials are influencing business outsourcing decisions. Strategic Outsourcing. International Journal (Toronto, Ont.), 1(1), 87–95. Cameron, K. W. (2009, May). (2009 a.), The Road to Greener IT Pastures. Computer, 42(5), 87–89. doi:10.1109/MC.2009.167 Cameron, K. W. (2009 b). My IT Carbon Footprint. Computer, (November): 2009. CEC (Colorado Environmental Center). (2005). Energy Conservation: Past & Present Projects: Green Computing Guide. University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 2005 (http:// ecenter.colorado.edu/energy/ projects/green_ computing.html). Chen, A., & Boudreau, M. (2008). Information systems and ecological sustainability. Journal of Systems and Information Technology, 10(3), 186–201. doi:10.1108/13287260810916907 Chen, A. J., et al. (2009). Organizational Adoption of Green IS & IT: An Institutional Perspective, Proc. International Conference on Information Systems, Phoenix. Dedrick, J. (2009). Green IT., Proceedings of AMCIS. Fuchs, C. (2008). The implications of new information and communication technologies for sustainability. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 10(3), 291–309. doi:10.1007/ s10668-006-9065-0 IBM. (2007). IBM Unveils Plan to Combat Data Center Energy Crisis; Allocates $1 Billion to Advance ‘Green’ Technology and Services. Press release, 10 May (www03.ibm.com/press/us/en/ pressrelease/21524.wss). 62

Lamb, J. (2009). The Greening of IT: How Companies Can Make a Difference for the Environment. New York: IBM Press/Pearson. Lash, J., & Wellington, F. (2007, March). Competitive Advantage on a Warming Planet. Harvard Business Review, 95–102. Miller, R. (2008). Power Shortages Constrict UK Data Centers. Data Centre Knowledge. Retrieved from www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives /2008/07/17/power-shortages-constrict-uk-datacenters/ Molla, A. (2009a) An Exploration of Green IT Adoption, Drivers and Inhibitors, Annual Conference on Information Science and Technology Management (CISTM 2009), July 13 - 15, 2009 Abstract Molla, A. (2009b), Organizational Motivations for Green IT: Exploring Green It Matrix And Motivation Models, Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2009), Hyderabad, India, July 2009. Murugesan, San., (2007). Going Green with IT: Your responsibility towards Environmental Sustainability. Cutter Executive Report, 10 (8). (2008). Murugesan, San., (2008a). Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices. IEEE. IT Professional, (January-February): 24–33. Murugesan, San (Ed.), (2008b). Can IT Go Green. Special Issue, Cutter IT Journal, 21, (2), Feb 2008. Murugesan, San (Ed.), (2010). Understanding and Implementing Green IT, IEEE EssentialSet, IEEE Computer Society. Piccoli, G. (Ed.). (2009, October). Green IT Metrics and Measurement: The Complex Side of Environmental Responsibility. Cutter Benchmark Review, 9 (10).

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Poniatowski, M. (2010). Foundations of green IT: Consolidation, Virtualization, Efficiency, and ROI in the Data Center. Indianapolis, Ind.: Prentice Hall. Sacchero, Sergio Daniel., & Alemayehu Molla,(2009, December) Environmental Considerations In ICT Infrastructure Decision Making. Proc 20th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Melbourne, Australia. Samson, T. (2007, February). IT’s Data Center Power Shortage Problems. InfoWorld. www. pcworld.com/article/129369/its_ data_center_ power_shortage_problems.html Srivastava, S. (2007). Green supply-chain management: A state-of-the-art literature review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 9(1), 53–80. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2007.00202.x Sun Microsystems Australia. (2007, July). Businesses Are Committed to Eco but IT Lags Behind. Press release, July 2007 (http://au.sun.com/ edge/2007-07/eco.jsp?cid=920710). Unhelkar, B. (2009, October). Creating and Applying Green IT Metrics and Measurement in Practice. Cutter Benchmark Review, 9(10), 10–17. Velte, T. J., Velte, A. T., & Elsenpeter, R. (2008). Green IT – Reduce your information system’s environmental impact while adding to the bottom line. New York: McGraw Hill. WEEE. (2009). The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ waste/weee/ index_en.htm

ADDITIONAL READING Esty, D. C., & Winston, A. S. (2006). Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Green, I. T. Observatory.(n.d.). Retrieved from http://greenit.bf.rmit.edu.au/. InfoAge, (2007). Cover story: ICT gets its green house in order. Information Age, Publication of the Australian computer society, Oct/Nov 2007. 18-25 Makower, J., & Pike, C. (2008). Strategies for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of Business. New York: McGraw Hill Publishers. Trivedi, B., & Unhelkar, B. (2009). Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological, and Social Perspectives (2nd ed.). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, A. (2008). Lessons in Implementing “Green” Business Strategies with ICT. Cutter It Journal, 21(2), 32–39. Unhelkar, B., & Philipson, G. (2009). Development and Application of a Green IT Maturity Index. ACOSM2009 - The Australian Conference on Software Measurement (ACOSM), Nov, 2009 Unhelkar, B., & Philipson, G. (2009). The Development and Application of a Green IT Maturity Index. ACOSM2009 – Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Software Measurements, Nov 2009

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Carbon Footprint: It is a measure of the impact of activities of an organization or an individual have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It is the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, an event or a product. For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted; it has units of tones (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent. A carbon footprint is made 63

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up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint. The primary footprint is a measure of direct emissions of CO2 resulting from consumed electrical energy and one has direct control of these. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. EPEAT: Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT, (see www.epeat.net) assists buyers to evaluate, compare, and select desktop computers, notebooks, and monitors based on their environmental attributes (www.epeat.net/ PublicSearch.aspx). It also helps manufacturers promote their products as environmentally sound. Green IT: It is the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. It encompasses the dimensions of environmental sustainability, the economics of energy efficiency, and the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. Green Audit: To address accusations of greenwashing, a new kind of corporate audit is emerging: the green audit. A green audits assesses a company’s environmental credentials and its green claims for its products, processes and services to determine whether the company’s processes, supply chain and/or product line can be promoted as truly environmentally sustainable.

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Greenwashing: It is the practice of boosting one’s green credentials by making fictitious claims about their products or services as carbon neutral, energy- or fuel-efficient, or environmentally sound. Exploiting the call for environmental sustainability, many companies try to bolster their green credentials by exaggerating their products’ and services’ eco-friendliness in marketing campaigns. While one shouldn’t greenwash, sadly, this trend is increasing. RoHS Directive: The Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (RoHS) (www.rohs.gov.uk) aims to restrict the use of certain hazardous substances. It also bans placing new electrical and electronic equipment on the European Union market if it contains more than the agreed-upon levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, or flame retardants. Sustainability: It is generally defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (www.epa.gov/sustainability). WEEE Directive: The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive aims to reduce the amount of e-waste going to landfills and to increase recovery and recycling rates (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/ index_en.htm).

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Chapter 5

Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT Keith Sherringham IMS Corp, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia

ABSTRACT The adoption of Green ICT by business is far more than just the acquisition of low-carbon emitting solutions, green hardware and implementing software to switch-off computers in periods of inactivity. Although such changes are necessary actions, Green ICT is about a strategic business transformation in response to both markets and legislation because it is good for business. Such transformation requires a redefinition of business processes, a realignment of information exchange, integration of unified communication, and above all, changing the business model to align with evolving business trends and market opportunities. Beyond the marketing benefits that accrue to a business from the use of Green ICT, the adoption of Green ICT allows businesses to lower costs and improve service delivery, while simultaneously addressing environmental footprint. Operational gains and market opportunities are the business drivers to overcome the incumbency of replacing utility infrastructure and the knowledge worker assembly line that ICT provides to business. This chapter discusses aspects of the strategic business transformation associated with the adoption of Green ICT within businesses, including the significance of information exchange for green business operations.

INTRODUCTION Although environmental issues are assuming a stronger focus within the business decision making process (Stern 2005 and Garnaut 2008), the adoption of Green ICT by business is far more DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch005

than the “low hanging fruits” of acquiring lowcarbon emitting solutions, green hardware and implementing software to switch-off computers in periods of inactivity (Australian Computer Society 2007). Green ICT is about a strategic business transformation in response to both markets and legislation, requiring a redefinition of business processes, a realignment of information exchange,

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Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

integration of unified communication and above all, changing the business model to align with evolving business trends and market opportunities. For many businesses, ICT is a utility infrastructure and ICT is used and applied as an assembly line for knowledge worker (Sherringham 2005). To significantly change their environmental footprint, businesses need to address all of the issues around incumbency (e.g. time, scale, integration, cost, expectation), while supporting both existing and future requirements, e.g. accommodating carbon trading schemes. For businesses to bring about a substantial change in their environmental footprints, a significant investment of time, money and resources is required because changes have to be accommodated within the needs of business as usual (allowing a business to survive) whilst adjusting to revised operations. For noticeable impacts upon environmental footprints to be seen, sizeable change in business processes and operations will often be required e.g. integration of information exchange to remove the need to share and transport paper across organisations (Sarantis 2002). It is the ability to apply Green ICT solutions (Benson et al 2004) that lower costs or improve service delivery (yield Return on Investment), whilst reducing carbon footprint which will be the enabler of business. It is the strategic business transformation from Green ICT that is discussed further in this chapter.

GREEN ICT WITHIN BUSINESS DRIVERS As discussed by Sherringham and Unhelkar (2008a), business responds to legislation, customers, market forces and costs (suppliers). Depending upon the nature of the business, the impact of changes in any of these areas can have major impacts on both the structure and dynamics of business.

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Markets are often highly volatile and rapid response capabilities are the order of the day within business. Superimposed upon short-term markets are the longer-term trends that often require major business changes and restructuring to address. Therefore, Green ICT is set to play a key role in both the tactical short-term and in transforming businesses in the longer-term. Customers often respond “in-the-now” (respond instantly and on an emotional basis) and bring significant influence to short-term actions within markets. The role of Green ICT for business in customer-terms lies in two key areas. Firstly the marketing power of green-credentials for a business (discussed earlier by Ginsbert and Bloom, 2004) and secondly as a tool for driving change to realise lower costs and improved customer service. Though several elements impact the costs for business, it is the services from suppliers on both expenses and cost of goods that are of substantial impact on operations. When compared with customers, suppliers tend to be in a long-term relationship with a business. This relationship can offer opportunities to realise cost savings and improve services through the integration of systems. Green ICT can also be used as a tool for business optimisation and for lowering costs and improving service delivery through integration of operations, the electronic sharing of information and sharing common operational platforms. Changes to government legislation are often infrequent, but when they do occur, the impact maybe very significant, with considerable work in the areas of governance, audit, reporting and compliance regularly resulting. Given the timeframes involved around the implementation for and compliance with legislation, business is often faced with the need to implement tactical solutions to meet immediate needs, which may then become the incumbent or are replaced by longer-term solutions. Green ICT can be used to deliver both tactical solutions for businesses to

Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

meet legislative needs as well as enable longerterm solutions. Legislative changes can often significantly change markets and business dynamics (Figure 1), e.g. compliance changes. Legislation changes markets and businesses through: •

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•

•

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Market re-organisation: competition regulation changes incumbency, e.g. legislation in Australia around the National Broadband Network (Parliament of Australia 2009). Creation of market opportunities: privatisation and regulation, e.g. the establishment of carbon trading systems (Parliament of Australia 2008) will provide many new market opportunities. Supporting market development: tariff protection and tax breaks, e.g. support for energy efficient cars. Enhancing demand: legislation to enforce obsolescence, e.g. incentives to buy energy efficient technology and rewards for disposal of older systems. Market standardization: regulation on standards and compliance, e.g. mileage

standards for cars will lead to standardised monitoring and reporting tools. Consider the legislative impacts of Feed-in Tariff Schemes as planned or implemented by many Governments (Council of Australian Government 2008). A typical Feed-in Tariff Schemes sees remuneration to generators of electricity, e.g. houses with solar panels, who contribute electricity to the power grid. While the intention of legislation maybe to help households to lower costs and reduce carbon emissions, legislation such as Feed-in Tariff Schemes, may result in: •

Increased production of alternative energy generating devices – From solar panels to windmills, an increase in the production capacity of alternative energy devices is expected, with resultant market standardisation, market segmentation and lowering of device production costs. As shown in Figure 1, impacts may include early advancement of the mass consumption phase and standardisation leading to market dominance by key players.

Figure 1. Market cycle for Green ICT and market opportunities with legislative impact

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•

•

•

Market changes - Enhancement of the trend to distributed power production will challenge the market incumbents currently operating large scale infrastructure in a centralised manner. Established players will either respond to the new markets or become redundant (Figure 1). Related and supporting services - Demand for monitoring and reporting tools for households to manage their billing and track refunds. Either emerging ICT creates the market or the business market drives the emerging ICT (Figure 1). Management tools - Need for network management tools to administer and manage the distributed feed-in sources to ensure continuity of service. Such tools will need to be highly standardised and perform as a utility infrastructure, i.e. government legislation prematurely creates market standardisation through de-facto standards (Figure 1).

An additional impact of government legislation upon Green ICT is that legislative changes invariably open up new opportunities and new

markets in unforeseen areas and ways. Using a simple market maturity model (Figure 2), government can selectively use legislation to impact the environment and simultaneously stimulate the economy and markets. Consider an ICT solution for self healing within a network. Government legislation to reduce carbon emissions makes it more cost effective for a business to insert an expensive network self healing solution (capital expenditure) rather than pay people to drive from site to site in petroleum powered vehicles to manually fix network problems (operational expenditure)1. Though a legislative change alone may not Legislative change can create a market opportunity for a business with an innovative product. Government may then choose to nurture that industry through procurement policy decisions as well as use such an industry to be an economic stimulus to a region or country. Through legislation, de-facto standards are seen in the market, together with opportunities around specialisation and value-adding services around that technology with beneficial impact to all.

Figure 2. Traditional market maturity model and the effect of Green ICT

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STRATEGIC BUSINESS TRENDS AND THE ROLE OF GREEN ICT Whether it is markets or changes resulting from legislation, there are key trends impacting business (Sherringham and Unhelkar 2008b) and such trends are in turn driving the demand for Green ICT, and are themselves being driven by changes in Green ICT. Some of these trends are summarised in Table 1 and discussed further as follows:

•

•

Application of Green ICT to Power Generation, including Feed-in Tariff Schemes. An example of how major structural change can occur in an industry as a result of changes in legislation and the use of ICT to respond. Application of Green ICT to Business Governance and Management. An example of how business operations change in response to changes in the business envi-

Table 1. Summary of trends strategically impacting business and Green ICT Trend

Description

Main Business Impact

Likely Legislative Impact

Role of Green ICT

Decentralisation

Large centralised structures becoming redundant to be replaced by distributed but consolidated operations.

Change to management and operational models across business and how ICT is applied.

Disparate legislation is likely facilitating a decentralised approach in response, e.g. to power generation.

ICT solutions and operations to be decentralised.

Miniaturisation

Move to smaller and simpler solutions with ease of production and maintenance.

The model of operations in small teams with fast response times in an overall framework come to the fore.

Cost effective response to legislative changes will see use of miniature solutions working together to form an emergent behaviour.

Green ICT will operate using miniature solutions as well as facilitate the application of miniaturisation.

Emergent Behaviour

Many small standardised components working together to form an emergent behaviour.

Business model change from central command and control to support emergent behaviour model.

Increasing legislative demands and compliance makes this an effective response model.

Green ICT will operate in this style as well as drive business operation in this model.

Faster Opportunities

A window of opportunity for decision making to address issues is shorter but more opportunities and occurring faster. Includes faster time to market and products have shorter time in market.

Business not have time for slow centralised decision making, trend to empowered decision making at source within strategic framework.

Distorts the opportunities but creates new opportunities.

New Green ICT will create new opportunities, which drives need for new Green ICT.

Information Exchange

Linking and sharing of disparate information sources.

Totally change business model and modes of operation.

Legislation is likely to drive increased information exchange capabilities but will put checks into any systems.

Green ICT is providing this capability. This will do more to reduce environmental footprint than many others.

Unified Communications

Seamless and integrated communication and information sharing across channels.

Optimisation of transaction processing capabilities, virtual global team operations, changes to business models and market disruption of incumbents.

Communications ownership legislation will come in response to environmental legislation.

Green ICT is providing the capability. This will do more to reduce environmental footprint than many others.

Nefarious Activities

From stealing data to scamming users, new nefarious activities and ways to protect against them.

Business processes and information management changes around environmental footprint need to be secured against nefarious activities.

The changes from environmental legislation will drive legislative changes in other areas, e.g. data security and privacy issues.

Defences against nefarious activities included within Green ICT solutions.

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Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

•

•

•

ronment through the implementation of Green ICT. Application of Green ICT to Aviation. This example shows how an often cited industry under threat from emission restrictions and Green ICT (through the growth of video conferencing) can respond, and therefore showing how Green ICT can be applied to address fundamental business issues applicable to many industry sectors. Green ICT Applied to Realise Business Outcomes. An example of how Green ICT can change services and customer experience. Application of Green ICT to Business Resilience. An example of a. cross-industry business specific issue whose management changes as a result of the use of Green ICT

•

•

•

Further discussion of the wide ranging impacts of a strategic approach to Green ICT can be seen in various works, including Esty and Winston (2006).

Scenario 1. Application of Green ICT to Power Generation, Including Feed-in Tariff Schemes The first scenario to illustrate the trends, the strategic alignment of business and the use of Green ICT is electricity generation and management. This is an example of how major structural change can occur in an industry as a result of changes in legislation and the use of Green ICT to respond. Government legislation is likely to drive both the more efficient use of electricity and the use of non-carbon generation technology. Of particular significance is likely to be the use of Feed-in Tariff Schemes, whereby households are rewarded for contributing electricity from non-carbon sources. The following may result from such policies and legislation: •

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Decentralisation: By its nature, Feed-in Tariff Schemes operate along distributed

•

•

lines with lots of sources generating electricity and feeding into the power grid (network). Miniaturisation: If solar power is used as a power source for Feed-in Tariff Schemes, then a trend from large generating sources to small generating sources is likely to result. Emergent Behaviour: Feed-in Tariff Schemes drive an emergent behaviour. Lots of small and standardised energy generation sources all working together to form an emergent behaviour of a fault tolerant, scalable and utility power provider. Faster Opportunities: Feed-in Tariff schemes will create markets for many products and services to support power generation and management. Everything from smart network monitoring tools through to billing solutions, devices, and a plethora of software will be developed. After a period of rapid growth in demand for these solutions, consolidation and standardisation of the solutions market is likely, followed by specialisation and fragmentation of the market as more offerings and integrated solutions are provided. The legislation around Feed-in Tariff schemes will see windows of opportunity quickly evolve to be filled by solutions (Figure 2). Information Exchange: The effective and efficient sharing of information between devices, network managers, consumers and customers is all required. Households will need to track power generation and share power production and usage information, together with billing and other information with a range of stakeholders. Unified Communications: From simple requests to supply power, to messaging to orientate solar panels, and to cross marketing promotions on mobile devices, Feed-in Tariff schemes will see increased demands for unified communications.

Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

•

Nefarious Activities: Whether it is intercepting billing details or changing records on the amount of electricity generated by a device, nefarious activities will undoubtedly accompany changes driven by Feedin Tariff schemes.

•

The role of Green ICT includes: •

•

•

•

•

Decentralisation: Green ICT will be key to the design, development, management, operation, administration and enhancement of the decentralised solutions that are likely to result from Feed-in Tariff Schemes. Miniaturisation: From solar panels on roof tops of buildings to micro power generators at a factory, together with phones and computers and other electrical devices (all including solar panels to power them), Green ICT will be used to design, development and operation of such solutions. The ICT used to develop these solutions will itself be Green ICT solutions. Emergent Behaviour: Green ICT will underpin emergent behaviours, particularly the ability of devices to self manage, communicate with each other and operate as networked solutions. Faster Opportunities: Green ICT creating new market opportunities for everything from smart metering and monitoring, through to realising the cross marketing opportunities. Information Exchange: This is where ICT is set to play a totally transformational role with the ability to significantly reduce environmental footprints. From smart metering (people no longer need to drive to site to read metres), to maintenance at source (households maintaining their own power generation devices), and through to paperless billing (bills need no longer

•

be printed and mailed), ICT can provide “green solutions”. Unified Communications: Aligned to the transformational capacity of information exchange is unified communications. From devices advising of maintenance in advance, to automatic notification and ordering of replacement, and through to unified marketing; ICT can provide “green solutions”. Nefarious Activities: Green ICT will be used to protect networks and solutions from nefarious activities, whilst simultaneously serving to reduce environmental footprints.

Any change in legislation to support Feed-in Tariffs will allow a business to become its own power generator and to apply Green ICT to manage accordingly. In the process, this creates new markets and opportunities for both business and Green ICT.

Scenario 2. Application of Green ICT to Business Governance and Management Through a discussion of the application of Green ICT to general considerations around business governance and management, this second example illustrates how business operations change in response to variations in the business environment through the implementation of Green ICT, see Table 1. Changes in ICT and markets are driving the trend to decentralisation of decision making within businesses. In essence, the “command and control” dynamic is changing and current centralised decision making is being replaced by empowered decision making at source. From mergers and acquisitions through to marketing and customer management, it simply takes too long in the current business environment for decisions

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to be escalated for central decision making. In addition, there are often too many decisions to be made and management often lacks all of the required information to make both decisions and/ or the appropriate decisions. Therefore, decision making is moving closer to source with an emphasis upon alignment to objectives and strategy within a framework in which decisions are made and executed. To improve efficiency, for realising market opportunities and to provide a better customer experience, key management activities like business planning, budgeting, resourcing, and governance and performance, are increasingly being made at lower levels of operational management in an organisation. Rather than centralised decision making, Executives now expect operational managers to ask “does this meet objectives?”, “how does this align to strategy?”, then to make a decision and then go off and deliver. Delivery is according to objectives and strategy, within a delivery and governance framework to budget and expectation. Such an empowered approach places a premium on clear outcomes and strategy being known and understood by all operational areas, as well as having skilled people with the capability to deliver. It is the ICT capability that allows this decentralised approach to work. Expected trend impacts include: •

•

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Unified Communication: ICT to support video conferencing, collaboration tools and other virtual meeting requirements, reduces the need for people to travel to meet face to face. This results in lower costs, faster decision making and reduced environmental impacts. Information Exchange: Aligned to integrated communication is the ICT to allow the effective and efficient sharing of information, including document sharing, common access to systems and records, and support for mobile business solutions. All

•

•

•

of these tools serve to make staff more efficient and when effectively implemented, lower operational costs and reduce environmental footprint, e.g. less printing and travel. Faster Opportunities: With empowerment of the business to respond to customer and market needs, business can realise more opportunities and realise them faster. It is the combination of unified communications and information sharing provided by ICT, e.g. use of mobile business solutions, that drives this trend, as well as reducing environmental footprints. Emergent Behaviour: The changes to business management and governance that come from the application of ICT, particularly through the combination of unified communications and information sharing, empowers each business entity to deliver and allows a business to form an emergent behaviour that customers value to drive markets. Miniaturisation: The moved to decentralised management through the power of ICT (particularly information exchange and unified communications) allows the administrative overhead on areas of business to be significantly reduced. With decision making occurring closer to source, with greater empowerment and activity alignment to strategy, the need for complex reporting, duplication between areas of business and for large centralised structures is removed. In addition to lowering costs and improving customer experience, more efficient use of staff time and lower overheads reduces the environmental footprint, e.g. less travel.

The significance of Green ICT lies in transforming business operations to lower costs and improve customer experience, and in the process benefit the environment. Therefore, any Green

Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

ICT initiative can be sold as a business initiative addressing the vested self interest.

Scenario 3. Application of Green ICT to Aviation Government legislation around carbon emissions and carbon trading schemes is likely to have a significant impact upon many industries, including the aviation industry. This is an example of how Green ICT can be applied to address fundamental business issues, applicable to many industry sectors, and how an often cited industry under threat from emission restrictions and Green ICT (through the growth of video conferencing) can respond. The role that Green ICT can play within the aviation industry is very significant because of its impact upon current and future operations, to reducing the environmental footprint, as well as meeting changing markets and consumer demand. Within the next few years, the aviation industry faces many challenges including: •

•

•

•

Carbon Emissions: The aviation industry is vulnerable to legislation around carbon emissions. Depending upon the legislation, alternative methods of transportation, e.g. fast trains, may come to the fore and take market share from airlines. Customer Expectation: Meeting the needs of customers with ever increasing expectations of more service for a lower price. Declining Business Travel: As discussed previously, information exchange and unified communications means that less business travel is required for face to face meetings. As business travel is often a core source of revenue for airlines, ICT will change the market dynamic within the aviation industry. Freighting Value: It is the movement of freight that is the “bread and butter” of aviation and leads to profitability on many

•

flights. With legislation impacting carbon emissions and likely increases in carbon based fuel costs, the freighting market dynamics changes with impacts upon profitability. Fuel Costs: Carbon based fuel costs are likely to increase as oil supplies decrease.

The challenge for the aviation industry is to be able to manage its business and the required change that comes from having many of these factors aligned together. Those aviation businesses that strategically align the application of Green ICT - through consolidation, standardisation and integration - to the convergence of market forces shall be best placed to gain from the large scale changes to be seen in the aviation sector. Using the stylised illustration of aviation operations as shown in Figure 3, where the shaded areas identify where Green ICT can expedite processing and reduce paperwork, the application of Green ICT to the aviation industry include: •

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•

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Refunds: Seamless information exchange across systems (including alliance partners and financial institutions) together with paperless customer interaction; all lower costs, guarantee service delivery and reduce environmental footprint. Ticketing: Paperless ticketing with minimal data re-entry in back office processing through to seamless information exchange and delivery to any device anywhere anytime; all lower costs, improve service delivery and reduce environmental footprint. Scheduling: Faster detailing through seamless information exchange and unified communications with integration to related entities and stakeholders. Check In: Smart card identification (passports) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFI) tagging of luggage combined with seamless information exchange across systems and partners.

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Figure 3. Stylised illustration of aviation operations showing areas of impact from Green ICT

•

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•

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•

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Boarding: Using previously identified Green ICT, major saving on boarding time, tracking lost passengers and ease of baggage identification in the hold of aircraft. Maintenance: RFI tagging, with seamless information exchange across systems (including alliance partners) and unified communication means more efficient preventative maintenance, lower ongoing maintenance costs and smarter scheduling capability. Other outcome include: minimal data re-keying from paper records, less printing, fewer maintenance flights and reduced ground activity, all of which lower costs, improve customer experience and reduce environmental footprint. Cleaning: Better flight details and scheduling information makes more effective use of cleaning crews and with fewer ground journeys. Provisioning: With better information exchange and unified communications, e.g. greater use of handheld devices to problem solve at source, the provisioning process can be streamlined with beneficial impacts to cost and environmental footprint. Disembarkation: Seamless information exchange to Customs, Immigration and

Quarantine services. Smart card identification (passports), RFI tagging and mobile devices all used to improve service and impact cost and environmental footprint. Whilst the previous discussion was passenger centric, the issues are almost the same for freight operations, except that cargo is easier to manage than people. Integration of the logistics chain, information exchange with couriers and shipping agents, cross system integration with Government agencies and regulators, use of RFI tagging and other changes in business processes around ICT lead to lower costs, guaranteed service delivery and growth of market share. Although the enterprise wide exchange of information and supporting unified communications has been shown to be of importance to the aviation industry, of particular significance is the exchange of information with external stakeholders, e.g. alliance partners, authorities and government agencies. In addition to rationalising purchasing and supply chain management, with all of the advantages this brings, the seamless exchange of information allows for more effective crossmarketing, loyalty schemes and customer sharing opportunities. Customers can be engaged in a highly personalised way on any device anywhere

Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

anytime. All of this can be achieved whilst reducing the environmental footprint of the business over existing operations. These example applications of Green ICT and its impacts are just some of the many applications of Green ICT to the aviation industry. From which it is seen, that those carriers adopting and effectively implementing Green ICT (Velte et al 2008) gain a competitive advantage in the market and are well placed to change their business models, e.g. bundled product offerings, to leverage new business opportunities.

Scenario 4. Green ICT Applied to Realise Business Outcomes This example looks at the application of Green ICT to general service and customer experience trends. As commented previously, ICT is a utility infrastructure for business and acts as the assembly line for knowledge workers. For any business wishing to embrace Green ICT, changing both the utility and the assembly line aspects of ICT provides business with many challenges, not least being the replacement of an incumbent. Although customer demand, markets and legislation provide drivers for change, the need for change has to overcome the challenges and resistance that go with the status quo and incumbency. Furthermore, it is the management of the transition, the capacity to recover and the response to change that is important. It is these issues and capabilities that are the fundamental challenges to the adoption of Green ICT (Unhelkar and Dickens 2008). As ever, it is a case of ICT selling its benefits, painting a picture of what Green ICT can do for business and implementing solutions in a staged and progressive approach, delivering value to business and aligned to an overall strategic approach. By leveraging a range of business drivers, e.g. business continuity needs, Green ICT solutions that improve business, reduce the environmental footprint and meet the business driver, can be progressively implemented.

Some of the Green ICT solutions that can be implemented are shown in Table II, from which, the following is seen: •

•

•

•

Although Green ICT is still evolving, business can already gain in various ways from the adoption of Green ICT. Green ICT can be used to meet environmental and legislative obligations, whilst providing business benefits. Green ICT needs to be implemented in a phased and staged approach allowing business time to adapt operations to the required changes. The evolving Green ICT can bring businesses new opportunities including, new markets, market share and improving current operations.

Scenario 5. Application of Green ICT to Business Resilience In the uncertain business and economic environments within which business operates, the need for a robust and unified enterprise wide business resilience3 capability (unified approach to risk management, crisis management, business continuity management and disaster recovery management) exists within business. Using the enterprise wide resilience capabilities model of Sherringham (2009), the use and opportunities for the application of Green ICT to realise both business outcomes and reduced environmental footprint are discussed. Risk Management – In addition to identifying and assessing the likelihood and possible impacts of risks, e.g. loss of building, efforts around mitigation, together with response when a risk becomes an issue are required. Where Green ICT plays a role is in facilitation of the analysis, the mitigation and in the response through unified communications and information exchange. The inherent mitigation of risk through the decentralisation of operations and the resultant emergent behaviour

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Table 2. Possible Green ICT solutions that can be progressively implemented to meet business need Green ICT Solution

Solution Details

Implementation

Return to Business (ROI)

Cloud computing

Large data centres delivering data and applications from servers to end devices across the Internet

Progressively transfer appropriate applications to cloud environment, ensuring service delivery as well as green credentials

* Lower cost of ownership as not paying for hosting infrastructure * Smaller in-house ICT capability required * Assured service delivery of utility infrastructure * Leverage green hosting environments to reduce environmental footprint

Virtualisation

Creation of multiple operating environments on one host

Phased implementation of virtualised solutions at time of hardware replacement

* Less hardware required for lower cost and ease of operation * Mobility of the desktop environment for enhanced productivity * Reduced power consumption through use of modern Green ICT

Self-healing capabilities

The ability of networks and devices to self diagnose and take action to continue operations

Implement on new networks and progressive upgrade as hardware replaced

* Assured service delivery * Lower operational costs * Reduced maintenance costs * Smaller environmental footprint through reduced travel

Real time decision making2

Delivery of knowledge in (information in context integrated with workflow) in real time to mobile devices for decision making

Adoption of basic mobile computing capabilities and progressive augmentation of capabilities as technology evolves

* Quicker decision making * Staff spending more time on value-adding services * Reduced travel times with associated environmental impact

Smart network management solutions

Automation of operations, including device management, pre-emptive maintenance and optimised operations

Adoption according to pragmatic business need as technology evolves

More efficient network operations to assure delivery at lower cost and more environmental footprint

are underpinned by the use of Green ICT (Sherringham and Unhelkar 2010). Business Sustainability Management – Part of risk mitigation is the capability of a business to sustain operations by alternative means whilst a critical system (process, function, entity) is recovered. When effectively implemented, the business trends of decentralisation, emergent behaviour, information exchange and unified communications all contribute to business sustainability in a crisis. Green ICT solutions including cloud computing for application and data hosting, self-healing capabilities, mobility, real time decision making capacities and smart network principles (see Table II) all help to sustain business operations whilst reducing environmental footprint.

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Business Management in a Crisis – In addition to addressing any crisis that arise, a business endures and is resilient when the business is strategically managed through a crisis, i.e. cash-flow management and customer retention, because the necessary structures and resources are in place. The key trends of decentralisation and emergent behaviour resulting from the adoption of Green ICT and the supporting information exchange and unified communications, play a key role in developing and supporting the capabilities necessary for managing a business through a crisis. Crisis Management: With ICT playing a key role in managing many aspects of a crisis, the requirement is to have the processes, capabilities, infrastructure and skilled people in place ready to respond. Green ICT can be used in a crisis.

Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

Business Continuity: It is in the area of business continuity that the emergence of Green ICT can play a significant role. Cloud computing for application and data hosting, self-healing capabilities, mobility, real time decision making capacities and smart network principles (see Table II) all underpin business continuity whilst serving to reduce the environmental footprint of an organisation. Disaster Recovery Management: Aligned to business continuity and business sustainability is disaster recovery management. The Green ICT solutions of cloud computing for application and data hosting, self-healing capabilities, real time decision making capacities, smart networks and mobile business all facilitate disaster recovery. Such Green ICT is required for both environmental and sound business reasons. Capability Management: All of the processes, capacities and infrastructure developed are only as good as the people involved. Capability management is all about the testing, skilling and training necessary. Many aspects of the Green ICT solutions and trends discussed underpin the testing, skilling and training.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS Many of the opportunities for the application of Green ICT and for business to realise are still to be determined. Harris (2008) makes an attempt to list 100 best practices surrounding Green ICT. Similarly, Sherringham and Unhelkar (2008b) have also identified some of the strategic trends of Green ICT. These trends are summarised in Table III and considered further in this section as potentials for expansion in practice. Command and Control: The decentralisation of management structures and decision making is a trend that is starting to impact businesses already, especially global corporations, where regional operations will be need to be empowered, e.g. for mergers and acquisition. Accountability

is seen through alignment to strategy and whilst the timeframes on which a strategy works are decreasing, the need for clear strategy and planning is increasing. This empowered approach to management and operations relies totally upon effective information exchange and unified communications. Green ICT will be how business operates. Profiting-From-Free: Already seen with free to air television and music downloads on the Internet, business will increasingly accommodate “Free” within their business models. The first component of “you provide and someone else pays” is a standard of the media industry (advertising revenue being the payer and media companies the traditional providers) and the model is now used across Internet search and social networking sites, as well as online media and information. Whilst the “you provide and someone else pays” business model will continue to be important and new opportunities for the model will be found, the need to diversify the model and revenue source is necessary, particularly as markets fragment further. The second Profiting-From-Free model of “providing something for free and then charging for the value-adding services” is now well established for Internet delivery, e.g. download the music for free but pay for the concert or the applications with reduced functionality for free but payment for full application capability. The “providing something for free and then charging for the value-adding services” model will need to be extend into other business areas and variations of the model applied because the “value-of-free” creates expectations in the customer. Use of the Profiting-From-Free within the business model and the changes in market maturity is particularly seen where services are delivered over the Internet (see Figure 4). Key to market maturity is the hype associated with a service as this drives user engagement. Providing services for free is how the customer base is established and whilst the changes in ICT effectively lower

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Table 3. Role of Green ICT in emerging business trends Business Trend

Description

Business impact

Significance of Green ICT

Command and Control

Decentralisation of management within business and empowerment of problem resolution at source.

New management frameworks, skilling of management and staff and new approaches to management required.

Green ICT to provide required information exchange and unified communications solutions required.

Profiting-From-Free

You provide but someone else pays through to give something away for free but charge for premium service.

Key to the business model for services via the Internet but model to be accommodated within all businesses.

Use of Green ICT to lower the cost of service delivery, particularly via Internet.

Value-of-How-To

Give away the “How To Do It” but charge for the details, the services and support.

From sales presentations, to education and training through to marketing and advertising, video on demand and webinars etc. will be the default.

From lots of end devices using renewable energy sources through to energy smart consolidated services, Green ICT to underpin communications.

Green Marketing

Use of green credentials in marketing: from a donation to a community or environmental cause through to environmental offset transaction fees.

Donation to community or environmental cause a point of differentiation but will become expected of all businesses and impact purchasing decisions.

Green ICT solutions will be required for marketing purposes.

Mobile Workers

Knowledge workers using multiple devices and operating in diverse environments to meet customer needs.

Mobile and flexible workforces using mobile devices and collaboration tools (Web 2.0 like solutions) will be the de facto standard, requiring new business models and management frameworks.

From end devices powered by renewable energy through to the information exchange and unified communications solutions required, Green ICT to underpin operations.

Transaction Processing

More transaction processing done by ICT. Need problem solvers to intervene when it goes wrong and staff freed up to focus on high value transactions that cannot be done by ICT.

Addressing the business changes around information exchange and unified communications will reduce environmental footprint as well as improve business operations.

Knowledge worker assembly line to be progressively reengineered through the implementation of Green ICT solutions.

Virtual Teams

Work becomes more project based with participants from many areas of business working collaboratively in virtual teams to deliver outcomes.

Business to address the necessary integrated communication, processes and information sharing to allow teams to work. A greater focus on soft skills and revised management frameworks also required.

Green ICT required to support information exchange and communications to support model, including mobile devices.

the cost of delivery annually, the cost of creation and supporting operations compared with derived revenue determines the sustainability of the market opportunity. In such markets, legislation often responds belatedly to the social impacts. Green ICT is set play an important role within the Profiting-From-Free model including: •

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Green ICT providing the unified communication and information exchange capabilities required for businesses to leverage the model.

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Adoption of Green ICT to further lower cost of service delivery via the Internet to further drive the business changes around the model and the Green ICT. Social factors influencing market maturity will include a demand for Green ICT solutions and a social dividend. Green ICT to drive variations and extension of the Profiting-From-Free model across all areas of business as markets segment and diversify.

Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

Figure 4. Market maturity with the value-of-free

Value-of-How-To: Aligned to the ProfitingFrom-Free is the Value-of-How-To. In this model, the tools of video, webinars and podcasts, are all used to explain an audience, at their pace, how to do things to influence their decision making. From sales presentations, to training courses, to financial advice, the Value-of-How-To is set to revolutionise the sales and marketing process. Of all of the resulting changes to be seen within the sales process, the most significant is likely to be less direct face to face interaction yielding reduced travel costs and related environmental benefits. Just as Microsoft Word allowed everyone to be a typist, Excel an accountant and PowerPoint a presenter, the Value-of-How-To and related technologies will make everyone an actor. Where Green ICT comes to fore is in key areas like having every end device (phone and camera etc.) powered by renewable energy sources through to energy smart devices underpinning the information exchange and unified communications. Green Marketing: Although the real value to business of Green ICT lies in the reengineering of business processes, the information exchange and unified communications, it maybe the marketing opportunities of being green that are realised first.

Businesses looking for a market differentiator and a customer engager are increasingly likely to canvass their green credentials. The ability of a business to say “it has Green ICT”, “it uses Green ICT to do good” or “it is returning value to customers vested interest through the use of Green ICT” are all powerful marketing tools. From charging a premium price to have an environmental footprint reduced through to making donations to community and environmental organisations, the marketing and business opportunities are almost limitless. Green Marketing may also be how Green ICT is implemented into organisations. In addition, ICT suppliers and service providers are also poised to leverage the value of Green Marketing in their sales of ICT technology and services. Mobile Workers: The image of wandering knowledge workers creating a mobile office wherever needs dictate maybe a bit simplistic, but this will be close to the mark for many knowledge workers. Apart from the changes to business models and management, businesses will need to embrace collaboration (desktop sharing, image sharing) and networking solutions (Blogs, Wikis, Twitter, Facebook). Part of Green ICT

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will be providing all of these capabilities and more, together with power smart devices and end devices powered by renewable energies (Trivedi, & Unhelkar 2009). Transaction Processing: As more transactions are processed by ICT and less manual intervention is required; the skill set changes from routine transaction processing to pro-active problem solving when things go wrong. Resources are freed to focus on advanced and high value transaction processing, which cannot be readily achieved by ICT alone, and to manage customer expectation. All of these require more highly skilled workers with advanced problem solving, superior communication skills and the ability to leverage mobile business. Opportunities to adopt Green ICT occur as changes to the knowledge worker assembly line are required in response to changing markets and business dynamics. Green ICT can also be used to re-shape the business processes, thereby driving the demand for Green ICT. Virtual Teams: With liberation from routine transaction processing, roles will have a greater customer engagement, a focus on improving service and contain more business optimisation activities. Much of this work will be project or piece specific, with teams coming together to achieve an outcome and then disbanding to work on the next one. The teams will often be virtual teams, collaborating globally across the time zones, with colleagues from diverse areas of business at various levels all drawn together to deliver outcomes. Business will be about pulling together the resources from out-sourcers, off-shorers, in-house and others; bringing them together and ensuring delivery. For business it means new management strategies and innovative approaches to human resource management, hiring and career management. This will also mean changes in the way out-sourcers and off-shorers have been engaged to-date and in the way ICT is applied.

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The influence of Green ICT again lies in information exchange and unified communications with the subsequent environmental benefits. For out-sourcers and off-shorers, the business demand for Green ICT offers new business and service opportunities.

CONCLUSION For many businesses, the adoption of Green ICT is still in its infancy and the business benefits that accrue from Green ICT are often not seen or understood, i.e. Green ICT is seen as a compliance issue and a cost. Combine this lack of knowledge with the issues of incumbency around existing ICT and the need to maintain operations, then adopting Green ICT is often see as a forced change driven primarily by government legislation. For business, however, the following are seen with Green ICT: •

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The greatest impact of Green ICT on the environment is likely to result from the integration of business systems and information exchange and its cascading impact to the environment. The benefits of Green ICT are not an adjunction or an expense to business, they are part of business because of the improved efficiency and lower costs, i.e. being green is good for business. Although Green ICT is still evolving, business can already gain in various ways from the adoption of Green ICT as well as meeting environmental and legislative obligations. Green ICT needs to be implemented in a phased and staged approach allowing business time to adapt operations to the required changes. The adoption of Green ICT is expected to bring major changes to business, with sig-

Strategic Business Trends in the Context of Green ICT

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nificant impacts in management and operations required. The evolving nature of Green ICT can bring new opportunities including, new markets, market share and improvements to current operations for business. Green ICT can be used to provide tactical solutions for a business, but for a business to realise noticeable outcomes from its use of Green ICT, a coherent and unified approach to the adoption of Green ICT, as part of a strategic response, is required by business.

As this paper has shown, however, Green ICT is about lowering costs, guaranteeing service delivery and improved customer experience whilst reducing environmental footprint. Therefore, any Green ICT initiative can be sold as a business initiative addressing the required self interest. For business, Green ICT will need to be a phased and staged approach as part of an overall strategic approach to changing markets and business dynamics.

REFERENCES Australian Computer Society. (2007). Audit of Carbon Emissions resulting from ICT usage by Australia Business Australian Computer Society Publication 30PP. (http://www.acs.org.au/ acs_policies/ docs/2007/greenictaudit.pdf) Benson, R. J., Bugnitz, T. L., & Walton, W. B. (2004). From Business Strategy to IT Action: Right Decisions for a Better Bottom Line. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Council of Australian Government (2008). National Principles for Feed-in Tariff Schemes Meeting Outcomes Document 2pp (http://www.coag. gov.au/coag_meeting_ outcomes/2008-11-29/ docs/20081129_national_principles_fits.pdf)

Esty, D. C., & Winston, A. S. (2006). Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Garnaut, R. (2008). Garnaut Climate Change Review Cambridge University Press Cambridge UK (http://www.garnautreview.org.au) Ginsberg, J. M., & Bloom, P. N. (2004). Choosing the Right Green Marketing Strategy. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(1), 79–84. Harris, Jason, (2008), Green Computing and Green IT Best Practices – Green IT 100 Success Secrets. Parliament of Australia. (2008) Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper ISBN: 978–1– 921298–25–7 516pp (http://www.climatechange. gov.au/ greenpaper/report/pubs/greenpaper.pdf) Parliament of Australia. (2009). Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measures—Network Information) Bill 2009 no. 22, 2009–10, ISSN 1328-8091 (http://www.aph.gov.au/library/ pubs/BD/200910/10bd022.pdf) Sarantis, H. (2002). Business Guide to Paper Reduction. San Francisco: Forest Ethics. Sherringham, K. (2005). Cookbook for Market Dominance and Shareholder Value: Standardising the Roles of Knowledge Workers (p. 90). London: Athena Press. Sherringham, K. (2009). Resilience Capability – Developing Enterprise Capability. Business Continuity Journal, 3(4), 35–43. Sherringham, K., & Unhelkar, B. (2008a). Business Driven Enterprise Architecture and Applications to Support Mobile Business. In Unhelkar, (Eds.), Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives – (2nd ed.). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

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Sherringham, K., & Unhelkar, B. (2008b). Strategic Elements for the Mobile Enablement of Business. In Unhelkar et al. 2008) Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives (2nd ed.). IGI Global. Sherringham, K., & Unhelkar, B. (2008c). Real Time Decision Making and Mobile Technologies. In Unhelkar et al. 2008) Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives (2nd ed.). IGI Global. Sherringham, K., & Unhelkar, B. (2010) Achieving Business Benefits by Implementing Enterprise Risk Management”. Cutter Consortium Enterprise Risk Management and Governance Executive Report Vol 7, No. 3. Stern, N. (2005). STERN REVIEW: The economics of climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk) Trivedi, B., & Unhelkar, B. (2009). Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies. Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological & Social perspective (2nd ed., pp. 432–440). Published in USA by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global).

Information Exchange: The ability of ICT systems to be linked together and seamlessly share information across the enterprise and with external partners and agencies (voice, data, images, video, data feeds). Profiting-From-Free: A business model that is set to be increasingly used within business, particularly when service delivery is over the Internet. Summarised as “you provide but someone else pays” and/or “providing something for free and then charging for the value-adding services” Real Time Decision Making: The provision of information in context and integrated with workflow in real time to any device anywhere anytime is needed so that decisions can be made. Unified Communications: An integrated solution to communications delivered to any device anywhere anytime, including e-mail, messaging, video, imaging and voice. Value-of-How-To: A business model where video, webinars and podcasts are all used to explain an audience, at their pace, how to do things to influence decision making.

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Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, A. (2008). Lessons in implementing “Green” Business Strategies with ICT. Cutter IT Journal, 21( 2). February 2008. USA: Cutter Consortium. Velte, T., Velte, A., & Elsenpeter, R. (2008). Green IT: Reduce your Information System’s Environmental Impact While Adding to the Bottom Line. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Green Marketing: Using green and environmental credentials as a marketing tool to attract customers and gain market share.

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Inefficiencies within business operations are often perpetuated because the status quo cost is absorbed within routine business operational costs and the dedication of capital expenditure is often required to realise a saving. CAPEX vs OPEX also sees replacement occurring mainly at “end of life” or new purchases upon expansion, forced due to legislative change. See Sherringham and Unhelkar 2008c on the solution for and emergence of real time decision making. Resilience is an example of a cross-industry business specific issue whose management changes as a result of the use of Green ICT.

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Chapter 6

Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Amit Tiwary Solution Architect, Australia

ABSTRACT This chapter extends and applies the concepts of Business Intelligence (BI) within business to help improve its environmental performance. When BI is used to improve customer service and optimize business performance, the result can also be used to reduce the carbon footprint of the organization. Various ways to improve customer service as well as cross-selling and up-selling to customers are discussed in the context of the carbon footprint – and with suggestions to improve that footprint. This is a strategic approach to the use of BI in environmental performance – resulting in what is called Environmental Intelligence. The suggestion is to use Business intelligence to improve the overall resources usage (by reducing energy and paper usage) of the organizations without compromising on customer services. For example if the customers are serviced on first contact, the follow on activities involving multiple contacts with customers and marketing paper material could be reduced. This will provide the organizations with better customer satisfaction and also reduce the extra energy usage in developing heavy duty BI infrastructure and paper used for the marketing purpose to woo back the customers.

INTRODUCTION There is a phenomenal amount of intelligence that exists in business. This intelligence, which is more than mere analysis of data and informa-

tion, has been garnered by businesses to achieve enhanced customer experience and related business efficiencies. Such intelligence is gleaned from the organization’s various systems (such as ERP, CRM, HR and SCM), corresponding processes and vast amount of underlying data in

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch006

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT

multiple formats. These various elements of an organization’s intelligence that are embedded in its systems and data emerge as invaluable decision making tools when they all work together. This systems level collaboration and correlation results in ongoing improvement in customer service and optimization of business activities. The creation of this collaboration and correlation is business intelligence. Business intelligence (BI) is the process of using collective information within the organization to optimize its business performance, enhance its customer service and provide it with overall competitive advantage and sustainability. Such business intelligence has tremendous potential for application in the modern-day environmentally-conscious business world. In fact, the business environment today mandates a highly intelligent approach that would make optimal use of all resources available to an organization. The environmental issues of a business are not too far removed from the issues of business efficiency and customer service. However, care needs to be taken to ensure that the environmental considerations of business do not embroil the business in expensive and, occasionally expansive, projects emanating out of its greening effort. For example, an organization embarking on environmental consciousness should not add to the already existing complexities of data warehouses and business systems in the organization. Another simpler example would be that a reduction in paper usage by the organization should not result in greater use of server space. An environmentally astute approach would make use of existing intelligence, without overloading it, to enable the organization to achieve its environmental objectives. This chapter is dedicated to the discussion on the use of existing business intelligence towards what the lead author calls “environmental intelligence”. Environmental Intelligence (EI) has been discussed and presented earlier by Unhelkar and Trivedi (2009a, 2009b, 2009c) and has been researched by the lead author. This chapter aspires to think creatively in the use of Business Intelligence (BI) towards EI

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UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCE – A CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE While business intelligence (BI) is made up of complex correlations that are possible through the business systems, the end-goal of BI is to improve business efficiency and improve the decision making. An intelligence that imbues the people, processes and technologies in organizations with a new value system provides potential beyond imagination. In the current business environment, BI is achieved by having heavy duty data warehouses, processes and servers with the processing power to slice and dice available data. The focus of business intelligence within organizations has been primarily for enhancing customer service and bringing about business efficiencies. However, in this discussion, these BI reasons are considered in the context of their impact on the environment (carbon footprint). The end result is Environmental Intelligence (EI). EI is a combination of building on top of existing BI infrastructure as well as coming up with new initiatives relating to the environment. As earlier defined by Unhelkar and Trivedi (2009a), “Environmental Intelligence can be understood as the use of business tools and technologies to understand and coordinate a response to the environmental challenge”. This understanding of EI creatively extends the understanding of Business Intelligence (BI) as it enables the derivation of knowledge that is specific to the carbon footprint of the organization. Effective and efficient information flow is a vital ingredient of business.. Business Intelligence not only integrates information to improve the flow, but it also seeks out otherwise hidden and archaic information that may make sense in a particular context. For example, while serving a travel customer in a remote location, current information on the region, its weather and its political climate is taken into account through collaborative systems. Another example is to facilitate cross-

Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT

selling and up-selling to customer through multiple views of the customer accompanied by skilled and knowledgeable sales and service staff – who can dynamically configure the product or service, based on their knowledge, to suite the customer. The customer view must somehow capture not only who a customer is and what they may have done; it must help employees decide what to do next. Overall, business intelligence aspires to “future proof” the organization by enabling the organization to lead the market, deliver value to customers and also provide a satisfying work place for its employees. Business intelligence is a technical enabler for the aforementioned values to business – with customer experience being the centre of the effort (extended from Wiig, 2004). The following significant business intelligence drivers, leading to customer service, are also considered in the context of the environment. These factors are discussed with a view to applying them towards environmental intelligence in business:•

Customer-focused growth. “Organizational performance is primarily a result of effective actions by knowledgeable people” (Pfeffer 1994), This is an important BI driver that aims to increase customer understanding. Such understanding enables the organization to position its business strategies based on the customer’s current and future needs. Thus, for example, an organization can grow and be profitable by adopting a ‘value’ view of customers. Such value views generate actionable customer insights that uncover customer acquisition, retention and growth opportunities that have been well studied in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) literature. Understanding the customer and strategizing for a customer-focused growth has bearings on the environmentally driven activities of the organization. For example, the customer may insist that the organization provide products and services that are

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conducive to the customer’s own goals for green activities. Obviously, a product or service that is put together in an efficiently will use less resources, reduce the waste created during its development and will be of direct relevance to the customer (thereby reducing the inventory of unsold products). Thus, increasingly, the nuances of the customer’s demands in relation to the green value of the product are going to influence the growth strategies of a business. Driving new revenue streams through customer-focused business transformation and strategic differentiation. “To be competitive a company must capture and exploit business opportunities as they unfold” (Chorafas, 2002). The green market provides the organization opportunities to move into areas where they may not have ventured earlier. This has the potential for improving the overall revenue of the business. Based on customer demands for certain products and services, organizations could plan and invest in green technologies. For example, many organizations in the global utilities sector are considering diversification in solar technologies and are investing in building solar panels and wind turbines as alternative sources of energy – and revenue. Integrating customer insights into customer management processes to drive the right treatment to the right customer at the right time - leading to improved customer service, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. “Trading communities (also called trading networks) have sprung up during the last Few years to take advantage of the dramatic cost savings discussed earlier that are Available from e-business” (Finkelstein, 2006,). The utilities industries are now introducing new products that reduce the demands on resources by encouraging slight alterations to customer

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behaviors. For example, by recommending customer use their electrical appliances such as washing machines and dishwasher when average electricity demand is low, encouraging customers to use the ecofriendly or eco-efficient options on their gadgets and by providing incentives for reduced usage of energy, the utility sector can reduce the need for expansions of the electricity generation plants. Reacting more quickly to changing market dynamics and competitive threats. BI is meant to enable agility in business. However, this same BI of the business can also be used to change quickly the energy consumption of the organization itself. For example, if energy prices from a dynamic electric grid change depending on the source of energy (such as brown-coal versus gas), the agility of the business systems should enable the consumer to make environmentally conscious decisions on which energy source to choose. Achieving real-time access to information to support decision making (Kelly, 2010). Real time access to information requires

services in-line with on-demand integration for the heterogeneous systems. This will not require the extra BI infrastructure for extracting and translating information from various transactional systems. This not only save the resources that are required to maintain BI infrastructure but also reduce the resources required to maintain the currency of data. The reduction in the follow on activities by Real time integration will reduce the need of processing and re-processing data for the business intelligence. In a typical data warehouse scenario, data are extracted from various transactional databases and is then processed using business rules defined in BI environment. This requires additional servers and other resources to maintain infrastructure. Organizations can make use of the object relational capabilities currently offered by majority of the database vendors (Stonebraker, 1997). On demand business information serviceswill reduce the need of heavy duty servers used for the business intelligence. Organizations will move towards better EI. For example a

Figure 1. Topology of OLTP & OLAP using data warehouse techniques

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Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT

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typical organization will have transactional system data replicated in the business intelligence or analytical processing systems as shown in Figure 1. Improve communications with partners, leading to additional strategic opportunities such as joint selling through a partner ecosystem, customised offers and “package deals” involving products from multiple vendors, special discounts that apply to preferred partner products, and so on. In the area of the supply chain management, better communication with partner has introduced concepts like “just in time” inventory, these initiatives have reduced the inventory cost for organization, by using the green initiative this communication could be expended to optimize energy usage of the products and reduce overall carbon foot prints. Improve regulatory compliance and privacy management this requires integration with the governing agencies and decision maker. Collaborative business intelligence will lead to environmental intelligence. For example if government agencies, and utility companies are sharing their findings with product developers, energy efficient products could be developed BI tools are able to support the organization by identifying customer patterns. For example, churn history, late payments and usage from billing systems potentially overlaid with external data such as customer demographics provide an insight into an individual or corporate customer. When used as an EI, this same tool, with some extensions, can provide information on the usage pattern of energy by the customer. At individual, house-hold levels, utility and energy companies are able to pinpoint to their customers information on ‘electricity consumed last year at this time versus consumption today’.

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BI tools obtain business insights based on data such as to determine which products are revenue making or losing, then make business decisions to influence customer behaviour accordingly. This influence can be through campaigns or changing terms and conditions that encourage product takeup, cross sell and up sell but reduce costs and risks. CIOs believe BI is “the No. 1 technology priority for the third year in a row” (Gartner 2009). BI providers consider BI tools to be all points in the data storage to report presentation stages of data transformation. Business users utilise BI tools at the report stage. IBM’s perspective of the lifecycle stages are represented by Bryla and Merchant (2009).

Cross-Selling and Up-Selling to Improve Customer Resource Usage A current and complete customer information can help predict the customers’ buying patterns. For example organizations selling white goods could match up customer purchase with other products that will enhance the product life and usage will reduce maintenance costs. Another example is that of the Sales and Marketing department – who can target their advertising and direct-mail campaigns with precision. Thus, instead of delivering paper via junk mail, by adopting EI organizations could realign their marketing techniques and reduce the papers used for junk mail, marketing material sent via post or distributed by other means. This could reduce the waste of money on offers or advertising that will not appeal to their recipients; they cannot cross-sell and up-sell to maximize the total value of each customer to the business. This result will enhance customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Targeting customers with one-to-one marketing campaigns based on their unique spending activities is a holy grail for all retailers.

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Single Customer View and BI The single customer view may be defined as availability of relevant “context sensitive customer information” to each of the user’s touch point (at the time of sale, campaign, problem resolution etc). For example, a contact centre user has customer information about current products, history of customer (various location) any pending service request etc. The single customer view provides an organization with the “360 Degree” View of the customer available at the time of the customer interaction. The relevance of this view for the green ICT is in the reduction of the resources such as electricity to power their massive ICT infrastructure or the amount of paper used by marketing and other departments to communicate with the customers. The key attributes of single customer view are Information services framework provides reliable and timely user context sensitive information. The EI framework will require extending service oriented architectures (SOA) framework to create services to provide on-demand context sensitive information from various systems to each touch point use “Enterprise Information services framework. The EI will provide context sensitive information about customers for customer profiling; building innovative products and services; it will reduce cost to sale and cost to service. The recommended framework for the information services is as shown in Figure 2. The components of the recommended frame works are: •

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Information clouds “The cloud sees no borders and thus has made the world a much smaller place” (Rittinghouse and Ransome, 2010). The information services framework should support creation or use of either a private or public clouds with adequate security and access authorization to access information stored. This should not be confused with the grid computing,

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but the cloud should support information and services that are available to user irrespective of the location (internal to organization or shared information from other companies). Information services platform will consists of number of services: ◦⊦ “Consolidate” extract information from various sources and will consolidate according to relevance of the request. The consolidation could be scheduled consolidation based on the business rules and nature of requests. For example, all sales departments will need two level of information:itemized information and summary information. The summary information could be consolidated by defining “Object relational” rules on the itemized data (Stonebraker, 1997). For example current relational database could define weekly, monthly and yearly summary data types for the itemized sales data. This will assist in having data ready at the time of the business queries and avoid major extraction and consolidation currently undertaken in the name of business warehouse activities. ◦⊦ “Articulate” service provides the data translation based on organizational business rules. This service could be available “on demand” that is executed as part of the data request or could be scheduled services that will articulate the data into information based on organizational business reporting requirements. ◦⊦ “Personalize” Customer information when requested by marketing agent’s request has different context than requested by the service agent’s request. This service will provide

Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT

Figure 2. Propose Business Intelligence framework

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the data based on the context of the request. Other components of the information will be to maintain business rules, security policies and quality criteria that must be applied to the information. Information extraction platform will provide services to extract information from various data sources. Systems are integrated for on-demand information access based on Services, toolsets and enhanced capabilities of toolsets. The integration should reduce the number

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of servers currently in use for business intelligence activities. Business processes for data cleansing, data quality and security are defined and implemented and thus provides the customer services with “right information, on time”.

Effective Customer Service With a consolidated view of customers’ previous interactions, customer service agents are able to serve customers effectively — whether it’s providing billing Support, offering promotional prices and discounts to preferred customers or

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other customer-facing activities. This will reduce the customer contact time and reduces the size of contact centers. Thisreduces resource usage of electricity reducing the overtime employees will need to perform to meet their work commitments. The paper use will also reduce where customer services should reduce the need for marketing campaigns to retain or gain new customers.

ENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCE IN INTERNAL SYSTEMS Employee Productivity Rather than single sourcing information from a consolidated information repository to answer queries, many users in organizations have to access multiple systems and disparate sources. Such information access processes increases the average per call interaction time, whilst frustrating both customers and agents. With the help of business intelligence, employee productivity and customer service can be improved. This same improvement can also be directly associated with the environmental performance of an organization because the application of BI principles reduce resource usage in those business processes.

Cost to Serve The ‘cost to serve’ and ‘cost to sell’ are higher for organizations with less business intelligence than market average for their industry. The cost to serve a customer and to sell a product increases due to a high level of exceptions and poor data quality. This, in turn, could be due to lack of standards, quality assurance and validation. EI works to improve the quality of underlying information and thereby not only reduce the cost to serve a customer but also enhance the carbon per unit of service or product. Many organizations in a given industry often offer similar products with little to distinguish

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between them. Development of differentiable products and services – each with incremental improvement in its carbon footprint – is vital for environmentally conscious modern organizations. This effort is also coupled with IVR (interactive voice recognition), wherein automated systems recognize the voice clues of the customer and respond with additional options. Organizations need to carefully consider the real value of IVR, not only in terms of possible customer frustration by also corresponding carbon footprint. A prospect or customer who has to repeat the process or, after attempting a few voice clues, decides to move away from the business is a carbon generating activity with no value. Organizations need to ensure that when they handle customer queries and maintain customerfocus, they are also conscious of the carbon content of each piece of information. Correlating relevant information to customer and optimizing the process of providing that information to customer leads, in a big way, to improve the carbon footprint. This is so because such unified information reduces the amount of time and energy required of both the customer and the employee in carrying out a transaction. Thus, a unified, accurate and pro-active customer management goes a long way to not only reduce the cost to sell/serve, but also reduce the impact of business activities on the environment. An increase in the life of a product or reduction in the time to provide a service has an immediate bearing on time, materials, transport, security and all related business overheads. Reducing the consumption of resources also reduces the carbon footprint.

DEVELOPING KEY ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES Gainful use of environmental intelligence in business depends on developing key environmental strategies. These environmental strategies for

Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT

business can make use of the business intelligence discussed thus far. For example, the creation of an intelligent single customer view can provide immense opportunities for an environmentally conscious approach in architecture and design of ICT systems within the organization. We consider some customer-focused environmental strategies that are based on environmental intelligence. •

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Integrating information when demanded by Customer: One of the key outputs of BI applications is integration of information that is otherwise spread throughout the organization. This integration effort provides effective solutions such as single customer view. However, the resident duplicate customer information within silos requires integration. If, however, a strategy for “on demand: integration” of data can be created, then it will have a positive impact on the green performance of the organization. For example, a dynamic integration between CRM and billing systems would require collaboration of context sensitive information at each customer touch points that will be put together depending on the context of the customer’s needs. This will reduce the organizational resources required for serving the customers and also ICT resources that are normally required to maintain expensive business analytical infrastructure (Wiig, 2004). Business Rules Uniformity: Each system currently applies business rules as defined at the time of system developments. This has created disjoint business rules application between various systems. It necessitates multiple formatting, and translation of information for the consumptions of each system users. It makes it difficult to consolidate information about customer’s profiles. In absence of the BI, customer contact is longer due to multiple systems access and time it takes to recognize the

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customer. This uses resources such as electricity, paper etc. For example a traditional organization could reduce their electricity bill by reducing average call handling time as shown in the table. Enable multiple systems to update customer data: In any traditional organisation, most of the customer, address and contact information should be managed by CRM systems, but in some most of the cases customers will be initially created in the billing systems and then some data synchronizations will take place to create them the CRM system. Process owners and process standardisation: The current business processes and owners are distributed along the organisational boundaries. The creation of end-to-end optimised processes and identified single owners is recommended in this approach. The environmental impact is reduction in carbon generation during updates of customer data and corresponding reduction in the carbon footprint of the data centre.

BUSINESS DATA MANAGEMENT AND EI Business Intelligence in a traditional ICT architecture works to extract phased data from various data sources into a data warehouse or a common location. This extraction and subsequent usage of the data are based around a suite of business rules that process and transform this data. Such transformed data are then used in reports or made available through analytics databases. However, such BI work requires servers of high capacities and data are duplicated. Oracle and most of the database vendors after introducing SQL 2.0 in 1999 have provided object model functionality and these databases are commonly known as objectrelational databases (Stonebraker, 1997, 1999). The functionality these databases offer are rich

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data types and capability to define abstract data type (ADTs). From a carbon emissions viewpoint, these databases can be power-hungry, requiring greater disk space and corresponding computing power on the servers. The on-demand integration could use these capabilities of the ORDBMS to create predictive queries.” Predictive analytics tools from established vendors like SPSS and SAS Institute have been around for decades, as well as more recently from niche players such as FICO and KXEN” (Stackpole, 2010). For example in financial world, invoices are received and stored in the financial systems are then extracted and moved into a data warehouse where aggregations, summation will be performed on a regular basis. These summaries are then fed back to transactional systems for business intelligence. The organisations could make intelligence use of the ORDBMS and define the summation and aggregation such as weekly sales, sales by region etc by extending the relational data model. This will reduce the need for multiple servers and will reduce the carbon footprints of the organizations. This also moves organizations towards providing right data at the right time first time. This will also reduce need of heavy duty servers currently used to manipulate data and provide organizations to move towards green ICT by reducing their energy usage. This will assist them in moving towards the environmental intelligence, Master data management: Master Data Management (MDM), also known as Reference Data Management, is a discipline in that focuses on the management of reference or master data that is shared by several disparate ICT systems and groups. MDM is required to enable consistent computing between diverse system architectures and business functions. “Master data management is a collection of best data management practices that orchestrate key stakeholders, participants, and business clients in incorporating the business applications, information management methods, and data management tools to implement the policies,

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procedures, services, and infrastructure to support the capture,integration, and subsequent shared use of accurate, timely, consistent, and complete master data.” (Loshin, 2009) Large companies often have ICT systems that are used by diverse business functions (e.g., finance, sales, R&D, etc.) and span across multiple locations. These diverse systems usually need to share key data and it is critical for the company to consistently use these shared data elements through various ICT systems. “Master data management (MDM) may be turning a corner, with not just early adopters but mainstream technology users beginning implementation projects” (Kelly 2009). Master data management is required to coordinate different ICT systems, and is also necessary to supply meta-data for aggregating and integrating transactional data. This use of MDM is necessary for Data Warehouse projects typically incorporated in Decision Support Systems. For this reason, MDM systems sometimes provide a meta-data abstraction layer. An easy to use, web-based master data management system is the missing link between operational/transactional systems, business intelligence and Performance Management systems. Master data management software aims to integrate dimensional and master data across BI, data warehouse, financial & operational systems, providing for accurate, consistent and compliant enterprise reporting. Master Data Management software empowers business users with a best-practice business management process to centralize and directly manage the structure of corporate data. Many organisations are looking to empower their business users to create and maintain Master Data and with the appropriate security release it to their business systems in minutes - without adding the burdens of time and money on their ICT divisions.” Today the pendulum has settled in the middle, where the connection between business and ICT will deliver the promised business value”(Carter 2007). The SOA and Web 2.0

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technology is providing the tools and framework to achieve organizational goals of aligning business and ICT.

IMPLEMENTING ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES WITH BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Implementation of environmental intelligence is based on a carefully construed implementation strategy (Addy, 2007). The existing business intelligence systems, processes and contents are extended and refined to handle the EI implementation. Enterprise wide participation in the EI effort is required to ensure it produces the results. Following sub-sections describe EI implementation strategy. Enterprise Wide Involvement: This is considered the core criteria. or in charge: EI must indicate what the business value is, and what strategic or tactical business benefits the BI is planning to achieve. The simple matter is that EI plan needs to have the “business metric” not an ICT metric of delivery of application (additional chapter of architectural framework for total sustainability). This requires business to define the key benefits that are expected from the EI. The three key areas of improvements are key customer information management (CIM) processes; technology supporting them and culture of the organisations. The business need to evaluate the key CIM processes and optimise them before initiating any ICT projects. The existing culture within various departments must be analysed and factored in the roadmap. Evaluate and Plan: The EI will require analysis of current business process, cultures and ICT systems topology. This will need ample time allocation to build a robust roadmap. The project/s that will be recommended based on the roadmap will require a vision for 3- 5 years and must be included in the program of work of multiple years. This will require change in process for most of the organization from current yearly basis program

of work to program of work for 2-3 years for the foundation projects. Organize Incremental Steps: The extension from BI to EI will require defining the vision and components or “big picture” before starting any technology projects. The “big picture” must include the “to-be” processes, organisation and cultural refinement required. Once the big picture is defined, it will be hard to achieve the lot in “big bang” approach and a well planned phased approach is required to optimise the benefits of “enhancement in technology”, iterative refinement of processes and organisational structure. Investigate Potential Performance Issues: The information distribution and complexity of each system due to organic growth will require multiple transformation and extraction of information. This may create performance problem in accessing the data (transactional versus analytical data). The roadmap should consider potential performance problems and should design systems and processes to address them. Institute Data Governance Policies and Processes: “We must have some yardstick for measuring the quality of master data”. (Loshin, 2009). Data Security including permission, security, and access control Origin’s data and systems standardization effort will require to establish Origin wide security policies (who can access what data and how). This should begin with an audit of customer permissions, system security, and business rules for accessing customer data Developing a complete, correct, and consistent standard for all customer records should be a top priority. This will require standardization of the business rules and data formats across the systems. This requires end-to-end data quality process definition and implementation should be an integral part of the single customer view strategy (Karacsony and Terry, 2007). Prioritizing requests the context sensitive information must be clearly defined. This will assist in developing entities required for EI. The entities must be defined as mandatory data elements that

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must be available (name, address, telephone, etc.), required are others that may be necessary (email address, credit worthiness, contract status), and optional that are useful (last contact date, customer score, preferences). Developing a road map once these priorities are in place, the next step is to layout the overall roadmap. Because of the rate of technological change and the increasing importance of standardized data, it is almost inevitable that your company has several current initiatives that involve customer information--this is both an opportunity and a risk. Part of the benefits case involves aligning and enabling other initiatives. Requested capabilities may be delivered simply by coordinating the customer data streams in existing projects. If interdependencies are not given due consideration early enough, any new single view initiative will become another standalone project. As such, it will struggle to gain traction with the topic of data and an opportunity to harmonize existing initiatives will have been missed. Building a Program Plan: Once a road map is laid out, a program plan of projects can be built for capabilities to be delivered in the next 12 months. All the classic program management disciplines apply here--setting objectives before defining activities, adopting measure/trial/measure, and plan/do/review approaches using RACI planning to assign accountabilities, and so forth. It is critical that the process and people elements are considered along with data and technology. Basically, to understand the root causes of why a single customer view isn’t visible today, we need to work through each of the steps from a people, process, data, and technology perspective. Metrics & Measurement Software metrics are used to measure specific attributes of a product or a product development process. These metrics can be used to derive the basis of estimate, to track a desired state of quality is achieved, to analyse defects to improve the processes and create better quality products. This should reduce the energy

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demand and provide better environmental friendly products. Continuous Improvement: The most compelling reason for implementing a single customer view is the strategic imperative for more revenue, improved profit, and demonstrable compliance. Once an initial project has been completed there are limitless opportunities to improve update processes and add more information to the standard customer record.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS The concept of EI needs to be developed and extended further to reduce the heavy duty infrastructure that is currently required for the business intelligence and the extra reams of the paper used by the marketing departments to attract and retain cutomers.. Implementation of EI requires a well planned roadmap that would provide a step-bystep guide to how the organization can use its BI resources for EI purposes. This chapter has not discussed such roadmap. Upgrading the customer data to not only reflect existing customer behavior patterns but also futuristic patterns that will be based on the customer’s green preferences. This is particularly true to younger customers who are schooled in the new thought processes of environmental consciousness and who make realistic choices based on the greenness of a particular product or service. BI provides the insights in organizational capabilities and bridges the gap between the vision of the organization and its execution strategies. BI, however, needs to be extended beyond the organization and into the collaborative space. We call this concept collaborative intelligence (CI). Such collaborative intelligence is where multiple organizations are collaboratively sharing their business intelligence for the win-win outcome without compromising their own market position and differentiation. Such collective business intelligence was evident during the current global

Extending and Applying Business Intelligence and Customer Strategies for Green ICT

financial crisis as multiple governments coordinated the response across multiple cross-sections of various industries. The intensity of the crisis demanded immediate action that was provided in some way through collective intelligence. In our opinion, developing and formalizing the CI capabilities will provide collaborating organizations with the necessary capabilities to develop market differentiators - particularly enhanced customer experience. CI ensures that the organizational intelligence that is not part of organizational differentiation capabilities is shared with other organizations and reduces the need of every organization to “reinvent the wheel”. For example, emerging technologies such as cloud computing, can enable depositing and withdrawal of sharable information by various organizations in public/private formats. Mobile web services can enable dynamic creation of intelligence based on the context of the user that enables personalized service to enhance customer experience. Collaboration appears to be the imminent next step in the BI arena. Security Policies -currently security, access and authentications are based on individual systems requirements. BI aims to change that to a common set of access. With the upcoming compliance and regulatory requirements related to the environment, the application of security policies need to be more stringent than before. Labbi (2005) describes “The losses attributable to manifestations of operational risk are obviously very important as they represent the direct impact on the results of an institution”. Further work needs to be done in the area of single customer view with transactions over multiple systems – with respect to carbon. Use of federated data sources with multimedia inputs and use of mobile technologies and devices to consolidate information needs to be studied further. The scheduling of master data management, including data cleansing, must take in consideration of any performance issue (based on Loshin, 2009).

The organizational EI success will depend on BI implementation based on the total sustainability indicators (Goel et al. 2010). Following options must be investigated for the purpose of exploring and using business intelligence further for EI: •

•

Predictive database capabilities currently offered by most of the relational databases must be investigated and used within the organization. This will reduce the need of replicating data in large database servers for processing. The object relational capabilities will assist in providing on demand business intelligence and also reduce the carbon footprints by reducing the need of high power servers that are currently in use for the Online Analytical processing (OLAP). Use of cloud computing will provide better data management as this area will grow with the market demands. For example with the introduction of smart meters and cloud computing capabilities, consumers could process their energy usage and move towards more energy efficient appliances. This will reduce the need of multiple energy retailer and appliance manufacturer to build their own business intelligence (Rittinghouse and Ransome, 2010)

CONCLUSION Business Intelligence is discussed in this chapter in the context of EI. The underlying argument has been that improved customer service and optimized business performance that is derived from BI has corresponding value for the environmental performance of the organization. This has been presented as EI. This chapter discussed various aspects of BI, and how they relate to customer service. These aspects of BI were discussed in the context of their carbon footprints. For example, lowering the

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“cost to sell” and “cost to service” also reduces the “carbon” involved in selling and servicing a customer. This chapter has proposed extending the current BI processes and policies on two fronts; organizational front to offer on demand information by providing information services framework that will have multiple tools such as on demand services to interrogate transactional databases for current information and also service oriented architecture to extend the current information availabilities beyond current legacy systems. The framework also provides reduction in the energy usage by reducing the infrastructure requirements. The paper usage will also be reduced by intelligence marketing and also servicing customer with right information on first contact of customer.

REFERENCES Abderrahim, L. (2005), Integrated Risk Management for e-Business. Ft. Lauderdale, FL: J. Ross Publishing Loshin David (2009). Master Data management. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Press PP 1-28, PP 87-101, PP 177-199 Beth, S. (2010). The future of business intelligence (BI) rests in predictive analytics. 16 Feb 2010 | SearchDataManagement.com http://searchdatamanagement. techtarget.com/ news/article/0,289142,sid91_gci1384384,00. html?track=NL-340&ad=749707&asrc=EM _NLN_10905166&uid=8215158 Bryla, M., & Merchant, D. (2009), Page 11 in Business Intelligence and performance management from IBM Cognos, Australian Computer Society, viewed 08 October, 2009 < http://www. acs.org.au/nsw/sig s/bi/IBM_BI.pdf >.

Finkelstein Clive (2006). Enterprise Architecture for Integration. Artech Boston Publication, PP 41 -70, PP 365 395, PP 461-479Chorafas D N 2002, “Enterprise Architecture and New generation Information systems”,ST Lucie Press, PP 110 -132, PP 157 -173 Gartner 2009, Gartner EXP Worldwide Survey of 1,500 CIOs Shows 85 Percent of CIOs Expect Significant Change Over Next Three Years, viewed 04 October 2009 < http://www.gartner.com/it/ page.jsp?id=587309 >. Goel, Tiwary & Schmidt (2010). Green ICT and architectural framework. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Green ICT. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Karacsony, K., & Terry, E. (2007). “Data Quality Cycle 2.0”, Information Management Magazine, June 2007, http://www.information-management. com/issues/20 070601/ 1082695-1.html Kelly, J. (2009). New study: Master data management (MDM) projects on the rise. 15 Dec 2009 | SearchDataManagement.com http://searchdatamanagement.techtarge t.com/ news/article/0,289142,sid91_gci1376898,00. html?track=NL-520&ad=741114&asrc=EM_ USC_10421359&uid=8215158# Kelly, J. (2010), “Business intelligence market trends and expert forecasts for 2010”, 05 Jan 2010 searchDataManagement.com http://searchdatamanagement.techt arget.com/ news/article/0,289142,sid91_gci1378200,00. html?track=NL-340&ad=743849&asrc=EM_NL N_10585108&uid=8215158 Pfeffer, J. (1994). Competitive Advantage through People: Unleashing the Power of the Work Force. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Rob, A. (2007). Effective IT Service Management. New York: Springer Publications.

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Sandy, C. (2007). The New Language of Business SOA & Web 2.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Press. Stonebraker, M. (1997) Architectural Options for Object-Relational DBMSs. Informix Software, CA. Feb, 1997 Trivedi, B., & Unhelkar, B. (2009a), Semantic Integration of Environmental Web Services in an organization. Selected in ICECS 2009 Conference to be held at Dubai 28th to 30th Dec 2009, to be published in IEEE Computer Society Journal Trivedi, B., & Unhelkar, B., (2009b). Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies. Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological & Social perspective, Second Edition, (pp 432 -440), Published in USA by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global) Unhelkar, B. (2009). Mobile Enterprise Transition and Management. New York: Taylor and Francis. Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, A. (2008), “Lessons in implementing “Green” Business Strategies with ICT, Cutter IT Journal, Vol 21, No 2, February 2008, Cutter Consortium, USA

Wiig, Karl, (2004). People-Focused Knowledge Management. New York: Elsevier ButterworthHeinemann PP 26-61 Rittinghouse John & Ransome James,(2010). Cloud computing, Implementation, management and Security. PP 1, 28, PP 125- 152 CRC Press

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Business Intelligence: Creation of collaboration and correlation between disparate systems resulting in enhanced customer service and optimized business processes. Environmental Intelligence: Extension and application of the principles and practices of BI to environmental factors. Single Customer View: “Context sensitive customer information” to each of the user’s touch point. Cross-Selling and Up-Selling: Deals with selling different products/services to the same customer and selling more products/services. Efficient cross-selling and up-selling can reduce carbon costs.

Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009a). 2.0 and beyond for Environmental Intelligence, handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0 and X.0: Technologies, business and social Applications, Edited by San Murugesan. Extending and Applying Web. Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009b), Managing Environmental Compliance: A techno-business perspective, SCIT Journal, Chapter 2, Volume IX, August 2009, Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B., (2009c), Merging web services with 3G IP Multimedia systems for providing solutions in managing environmental compliance by business, ITA09, Wrexham, UK, 8th Sep 2009 to 11 Sep 2009.

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Chapter 7

Sustainable Business Value Daniel Younessi Global Advantage Inc, USA

ABSTRACT Green ICT and environmental responsibility in business is not merely a ‘nice to have’ or ‘feel good’ concept; neither is it an issue of reluctant compliance by businesses to ever-growing legislation in the carbon economy. There are substantial fundamental business advantages and values to be derived by taking up environmental responsibility. These advantages and values provide a business with an economic as well as a social edge over its competitors. This is particularly true when astute business leaders are able to correlate their understanding of economic growth with environmental responsibility. Incorporating green ICT in the long-term strategic business approach has much more to offer in terms of market standing, legal compliance, good corporate citizenry, and ability to trade and prosper in the carbon economy. This chapter investigates into such strategic advantages resulting from embracing green ICT, and describes and discusses such strategic views from an economic stand-point.

INTRODUCTION This chapter discusses the concept of business value in the context of the environment. Understanding the nature of this interface is crucial to the incorporation of the vital environmental factors into business strategy. Without a thorough and research-supported understanding of what business values may ensue from embracing sustainDOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch007

able models, most senior executives and decision makers are reluctant to commit resources to the establishment or support of sustainable practices such as green ICT. Profit, as enshrined in the psyche of the early era of capitalism, is still accepted as the prime necessity and the core reason for business. However, in order to create and further the value of a firm, we need to realize that profit is not a sufficient condition for the creation of firm value (Freeman et al., 2007-2008; Figge and Hahn, 2005).H. (2009), in particular, has outlined and

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expanded on the various values that need to be considered by firms in their quest to measure their ‘return on investment’ (ROI). This ROI, as Younessi (2009) has astutely identified, is not a matter of a single figure or concept. Instead, there are various values that an organization derives from its business strategies or upon which they based them. These are: utility value, (assessed subjectively by customers and related to the concept of product quality), exchange value, realized in the form of revenue and economic profits, and essential value, realized in the fundamental improvement of the societal condition. Additionally, the idea of firm sustainability and longevity needs to be considered- not as an end in and of itself, but as a means to informed decision-making along the course of optimization of these other value drivers. As such, it is essential not to consider pure exchange revenues and costs but rather “total value” derived from optimization strategies. For an example, the reader might consult (Whitten et al.; 2008) for a very interesting case of the impact of introducing ICT and mobile technologies in the healthcare industry. The general attitude regarding enterprises has been that they will continue to produce indefinitely (Keat and Young, 2005). As a result, major corporations are loathe to develop “end-game” plans, unless the end is inevitable and at times in sight. Despite the fact that demise remains the only certainty – taxation not being as universal – most enterprises are of the attitude that they will continue forever. This is an incorrect attitude. The oldest continuing enterprises on this planet are only several hundred years old. Most organizations do not make it beyond a century and very few make it to 200. The question that becomes critical in this respect relative to the economic value of enterprises is to what extent does longevity matter? This chapter examines these various business values in the context of the environment and sustainability of ICT business. The demand for sustainable approaches both within firms and at large is increasing, as is demand for firms that take

a stand for moral, ethical, ecological and societal concerns. Drivers and motivators for Green ICT has been discussed in detail by Unhelkar (2008, 2009,). As such, these otherwise subjective concerns are now becoming fundamental in any analysis of environmentally responsible business practice. While technology has fuelled the growth in business, we are also discovering that the same technology (and primarily information technology in the case of this article) is also the main cause for greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is important to recognize that, in general, technology needs to be considered inter-alia productivity and progress. In fact, without due strategic considerations and balancing of various values, as discussed in this chapter, information technology will end up being detrimental to not only the environment but also to business. Consider, for example, the fact that the average time spent on a computer at work has increased by more than 60% compared only to a decade ago. Yet almost twice as many people feel that they are less productive in their jobs than workers did ten years ago. The “paperless office” is consuming almost four times the paper the so-called “papered” office. There are many technical, process and social issues that are now intertwined with environmental issues in the context of information and communication technologies. The emergence of such issues has proven inevitable and universal; in the sense that they apply to a wide cross-section of business and are not just limited to ICT. These issues and means of identifying points of risk and vulnerability and also methods of dealing with such risks are being researched, and work has been and is being published (e.g. Adams and Katos, 2005; Javeenpaa et al., 2003; Phu and Jamieson, 2005) in these regards. However, as highlighted above, business now has to consider its risks not merely from a technological viewpoint but also from the environmental viewpoint. As highlighted by Arthur et al., (2007), these risks go well beyond just security risks, physical or otherwise,

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and also encompass legal, social, cultural, and risk of human error. Environmental risks are such broad risks that need to be identified, valued and ameliorated in businesses. The important factor to consider here is the need for vigilance so that productivity and growth does not compromise our ability to create value in the future. With the advent of green technologies and the infusion of such technologies into business, social and behavioral re-orientation will be certain. The challenge, as mentioned earlier, is not so much with the technology but rather with the way in which it is applied: a) value levels and b) sustainability and longevity of the business, (Horningen, 2007) and c.) is the firm able to operate within a sustainable framework in the first place? More specifically, these challenges are as follows: 1) Recognizing and understanding the sustainable technology that is available and its limitations as well as its potentials. We often expect too much, too soon, not only from such technologies, but from our own firm’s ability to adapt. 2) Recognizing that it is not the green product in question or even the currently available technology that is the central issue, but the process transformation- the new enabling concept- that is the core strategic input in the overall greening process. 3) Understanding that each new advance in sustainable technologies is a potential avenue for re-optimization of the enterprise. No optimization however is meaningful, productive or even possible without first identifying the objective, the goal towards which we optimize. As mentioned earlier, value creation and value maximization remains a vital objective in sustainable strategies in the short term. In the long-term, firm sustainability is equally vital. These goals are easier to adopt by businesses than the goal of only being carbon-neutral. The combination of

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the ‘green agenda’ with business efficiency is the most creative approach to the Green ICT strategies of businesses. 4) The process of introduction of the technology concerned and the management of the change that ensues. We must have a very definite and capable process of change management, a process of transition that can help the organization transition to an environmentally-conscious organization. Nowhere are the four above observations more valid than when we discuss the potential of technologies that have been called “disruptive”. This is a natural and obvious consequence. The more revolutionizing the technology, the more paramount the four issues above would loom. A long-term, well balanced, strategic view that is aimed at re-aligning (re-optimizing) the enterprise with our value creation objectives using the newly extant technology is therefore essential. Value creation and maximization encompasses the product, its availability (place and time) and the price and customer. There is a need to delve deeper into one of the most overlooked questions in business- why sell it? The question of demandin particular its navigation and management- is vital to the idea of value maximization, as is the question of supply, especially when taking into account competing products. For example, to maximize value, the product being offered has to be tailored to the market in which it will be sold, but must also be easily distinguishable. Under such circumstances, each item to be sold is sold at the highest return possible. From there on, the questions rests on determining which item should be sold where and when. This is the more traditional strategy of value maximization; however, as we will see shortly, this only provides a local maximum. A well-made strategic plan will serve to adapt to supply and demand, thus finding a global maximum for our firm. The use of green technology within business practice is relevant to all of these concerns. A

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green product can easily be distinguished within the market: a testament to this fact is the everincreasing popularity of hybrid cars since the worldwide introduction of the Toyota Prius in 2001. Not only is the vehicle manufacturer itself distinguishable, but also it has helped change attitudes. It is now increasingly becoming a common site to see special parking for hybrid cars in shopping malls and cinemas, higher ratings in terms of consumer preferences and an overall acceptance of their ecologically positive performance. One needs to be wary, though, of a market that is already becoming inundated with green products of dubious merit. Standing out in an increasingly green market obviously requires the use of traditional methods such as targeted advertising, but must not overlook the fact that consumers will be demanding items whose sustainability is tangible. In the short term, the value maximization of a green product will be determined by the methods mentioned- through tactical tailoring of both supply and demand. But a sustainable business model, through its inherent ability to operate within its means and circumstances, will not only increase the longevity of the firm, but also provide a means by which to maximize its value over a longer timeframe.

UTILITY VALUE Introduction to Utility Value In short, utility value represents the value a costumer places on a product subject to their own needs or desires. This is the most fundamental aspect of the concept of value when traditional economics is considered, and as such, represents the primary aspect of value creation. According to traditional models of business economics, a firm should strive to provide a product which demonstrates the highest utility – a perception of quality - to each costumer per unit cost. For a product to be competitive in its respective market,

its utility value to the costumer must match or exceed its cost to the consumer. This is a difficult balance to strike, as few firms are able to predict the perceptions of consumers in their entirety. This leads to firms being often unable to capture their entire potential markets, and introduces a factor of dead weight loss into firm considerations. Mathematically, this problem consists of the firm being unable to price along the entirety of the demand curve above the point where cost and value equate. This is not a recently discovered concept but nevertheless it remains important (Savage and Freidman, 1948). This issue is demonstrated in the following diagram:

Price and Product Differentiation The traditional solution to the problem of imperfect capture of value in economics is that of price differentiation, wherein different segments of the market are targeted through the use of different pricing schemes (Varian, 1996). A commonly-used example of this is the pricing schemes used on public transportation: wherein prices of tickets vary by peak vs. non-peak passengers, students, senior citizens and others. Price differentiation is used throughout all economic markets, ranging from entertainment to international currency exchange markets. The strategy of price differentiation, however, can be extended to provide both price and product differentiation. Where price differentiation creates several pricing schemes for the same product or service, firms engaging in product differentiation offer differing versions of the same basic product or service in order to target differing needs and requirements within the market being targeted. This creates a strategy which takes into account not only customers with differing abilities to pay, but also customers with different needs, different tastes. However and perhaps most importantly, firms using product differentiation-based strategies provide themselves with a strategy better targeted to the dynamic nature of modern markets.

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Figure 1. Imperfect capture of value

For example, suppose a market for printer paper in which recycled paper is becoming an increasingly important concern. Firm A begins to offer recycled paper to its customers in small quantities in addition to its regular line of nonrecycled paper. Firm B, noted for the high quality of its non-recycled paper, continues to specialize. Over time, demands for recycled paper begin to increase and firm A, already producing a small quantity of recycled paper, increases its output over several quarters, capturing more and more of the market for paper which each adjustment. In addition, the expansion of its production moves it closer toward economies of scale, making production of recycled paper more efficient. In reaction to this development, firm B switches its production to include 30% recycled paper. The immediate jump from specialized production to a new product incurs tremendous costs: new machines, new sources of input and new advertising are all required to remain competitive. Regardless of the quality of the product, firm B begins to lag behind firm A. In the long term, firm A will not only show greater experience and strategy in the production of recycled paper, but

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it will also capture a larger portion of the market and be able to compete more effectively against firm B, regardless of the starting position of the two companies. What do we learn from this example? We are currently watching the economy shift to include a greater demand for green and economically sustainable products. However, the temptation for a firm to shift immediately to increased green and sustainable production can cause undesired shockwaves to the firm’s strategy and management. A firm seeking to increase green production will have to buffer the potential shifts in the market by using a strategy of long-term product differentiation. However, this should not be taken as a warning against the implementation of green strategy: quite the contrary. A firm beginning its transition to greater green production using a strategy of differentiation will not only be able to be more responsive to the needs and wants of the market, but will also be able to differentiate amongst other potentially green firms by showing greater commitment and experience in the longer term.

Sustainable Business Value

Figure 2. Differentiation

Marketing and Other ShortTerm Strategies The overarching strategy of price and product differentiation entails many smaller potential strategies in both the short- and long-term. These strategies have connotations for the Green ICT strategies of the organization. In the long-term, a shift will be made from largely traditional economic models of production to new production models including greener initiatives and strategies. In the short-term, however, the strategies largely revolve around a more direct view of product differentiation. From the consumer’s perspective, both internal and external competition will exist. Internal competition refers to the perceived differences in value between products offered by the same firm, with potential costumers asking themselves “why would I purchase the green product as opposed to the traditional product?” External competition refers to competition between firms, with potential customers asking themselves “why would I purchase this firm’s product specifically?” Generally, the external market will be divided by sector, that is, green products will be compared

with other green products and likewise with nongreen products. As such, green products will have to be compared with other, similar green products. Fortunately and unfortunately, building market value in green commodities and processes is something that must be done more or less from the ground up. The public is still adopting green ideas relatively slowly- beyond hybrid cars, recycled and biodegradable products and organically-farmed food items, few green products exist as anything but niche items, and the market shows varying concern relative to green ideals. Conversely, and despite commonly-held stereotypes, the business world is actually further ahead in the adoption of green ideas and practices than the public at large. The issue of consumer information comes into play here. The public, according to traditional economic models, are rational actors. However, traditional economics also takes into account the idea of consumer information- the amount of research consumers put into each products they consider purchasing. Obviously, consumer information can never reach 100%, and, unfortunately, consumer information is often inadequate, which leads to consumers not purchasing the ideal product to suit

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their needs. Many traditional industries use this information gap to their advantage, often creating a moral issue in the process. Industries (a good example of which would be the Big Three US car manufacturers in recent years) have a tendency to manipulate the public’s indifference to consumer information in order to sell them shoddier products that are more likely to malfunction and force the consumer to spend on repairs and replacement. Fortunately for the green industry, this moral problem is eliminated – the converse being the case; few would take offense to finding out that the product they have purchased meets environmental standards. Additionally, there are also firms who claim to show a commitment to the environment and nonetheless use the information problem to their own advantage. By taking advantage of the fact that relatively few people are actually aware of the ideas behind green economics, a green label can fairly easily be placed upon a product while still creating the same externalities that would have otherwise been produced. This was the case with the first electric cars, which often featured internal batteries which could not be effectively disposed of, as well as poor representation of recycled parts (English, 2008). A firm using truly green methods of production can distinguish itself through targeted advertising. For example, the vast majority of people does not know and is; in fact, largely indifferent to where the electricity they use comes from. In several European countries, use of green power sources has been subject to an upswing in recent years. In Germany and Spain, for example, up to 40% of power is now green- Germany using a large amount of hydroelectric power and Spain, wind and solar. Companies, such as the Spanish power conglomerate Iberdrola, are leading the way in switching to green power sources (Sanford, 2009). However, the majority of German and Spanish consumers are unaware of where their power actually comes from- the fact is rarely mentioned outside of economics classes and advertising for the companies in question. But consumers who

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are sensitive to these concerns have actually been instrumental in pushing for greater use of green technology through a commitment to purchase only green power. Thus, through a fairly silent, word-of-mouth marketing campaign that mostly targets those who are otherwise already interested in green power, the benefits of green power have been edified to an increasing number of members of the public and are taking up a greater market share than ever before. This is most astounding as the marketing campaign underway is not even a direct or particularly vocal one, and, particularly in Spain, green energy companies are threatening the long-standing natural monopoly on energy production. Iberdrola is known worldwide as a leader in sustainable energy and is actually a leading contractor for sustainable energy in both the US and the UK (Russell, 2009) Within the emerging green market, we can do better. While unfortunately for the current market, there is still a great deal of ignorance regarding both product differentiation between green and non-green products, as well as some confusion about what green ideas and methods actually entail. Fortunately for the future market that we will seek to occupy, a firm can effectively distinguish itself in the short term through the creation of targeted advertising campaigns which serve to edify and educate the public about green production (and, indeed, green consumption), as well as touting that product in question as being more honest to green philosophy than that of a competitor. Effectively, such a marketing strategy will serve to lift green ideas out of the niche market that they currently and into the mainstream, as well as portraying our firm as a genuine leader in the creation and manifestation of this technology.

Summary of Utility Value from a Green Perspective The most essential aspect of creating utility value for green technology remains an effective marketing strategy which not only serves to pique interest

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in green production, but also to edify the public and portray our own firm as a market leader in green technology. In the short-term, this will serve to create a fair deal of initial perceived value on the part of consumers for our green products, and to portray our firm as early leaders in the market. This will help create utility value for our firm in three ways: • •

•

brand recognition, as our firm will be recognized as a market leader portray our firm as an honest, moral company with a commitment to true green values raise an interest in our firm’s future development

With this short-term strategy in place, a longterm strategy of product differentiation must be undertaken so the move to green technology reflects market needs as perceived by the consumer, not as perceived by the firm. This will serve to buffer the shocks of moving to green production, as well as providing the firm with a business model that is dynamic and responsive to the needs and wants of the market for green products.

EXCHANGE VALUE An Introduction to Exchange Value Exchange value represents what is most frequently considered as the idea of value by laypersons. In short, exchange value represents the revenue that the sale of the firm’s products creates. Exchange value is fundamentally based on the basic ideas of supply and demand as encountered in traditional economics. A firm strives, through a variety of business practices and strategies, to capture as much of the revenue above market value as it can. This is most often achieved through markup, but in the case of firms such as monopolies and oligopolies, more variables- such as restriction

of supply- can be introduced to act as creators of exchange value (Keat and Young, 2005). Fundamentally, however, the price of the market, i.e., the equilibrium price is what defines the true exchange value of a product. The basic issue a firm faces while trying to create exchange value is effectively identical to that which it faces in creating utility value, however, the solution, rather than being one which is based on satisfying the demands of the individual consumer, is one that wrests more strongly on methods of production by the firm itself.

Elasticity and Green Markets Understanding elasticity is vital to understanding the concept of exchange value. Elasticity is, for our purposes, refers to the degree of change in supply or demand given the change in some other factor- i.e., the derivative of supply or demand over the derivative of some other factor. A common mistake made even by trained economists is to refer to elasticity as if it exists in a vacuum“price elasticity or “elasticity of demand.” This provides us with too little information to actually understand what is meant. The correct way to refer to elasticity is in the form “x elasticity of y,” e.g. “price elasticity of demand”- the amount of change in demand with respect to change in price. Consider price elasticity of demand: a product which having relatively elastic demand with respect to price implies that a small change in price will heavily effect the quantity demanded. Conversely, a relatively inelastic demand with respect to price implies that even a large change in price will not have a tremendously large effect on demand. Thus is can be extruded that necessities have relatively inelastic demands with respect to price. In this discussion, price elasticity of demand will be the most important elasticity considered, but a discussion of elasticity approached from the supply-side would not be drastically different. Unfortunately, the market at large does not view green products as tremendously necessary- we

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Figure 3. Elasticity

are dealing with a relatively elastic set of demand curves. In most non-monopolistic firms, price shifts are inevitable and a small price shift on a green product will cause a relatively large loss of profit, if the demand curves for most green products remain as flat and elastic as they currently are. In such a market, the short-term strategy would remain unpredictable and subject to the whims of the market. But a suitable long-term strategy would be to influence the market toward a more inelastic set of both demand and supply curves. Inelasticity on both sides of the market would provide a more stable market for the product being sold, capturing more exchange value and minimizing deadweight loss. We will see in forthcoming analysis that, while this may be difficult to attain, it is still an easier task than in a non-sustainable market.

Optimizing Elasticity Fortunately, broader social trends are already helping to “inelasticize” demand in green markets. Everything from government campaigns encouraging sustainability, to the marketing strategies mentioned in the section on utility value, to tax incentives provided to green firms and consumers are slowly steepening the demand curve for green

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products and sustainability-minded firms. Again, the aforementioned program of edification through advertising will continue to make sustainability seem like more and more of necessity rather than a “nice-to-have.” Building off the discussion of marketing in the previous section, a general mathematical analysis of this market shift can be made. As far as supply is concerned, green business practice provides an inherent advantage. By necessity of its philosophy, a green business will not be producing at the same level or with the same vigor as mass production on the larger traditional market. An aggregate of sustainable firms subject not only to current restrictions but also future restrictions will never seek to overproduce, thus keeping the overall level of supply low, at least relatively to more traditional forms of mass production. Additionally, this cautious and mindful attitude toward production will leave a sustainable firm always able to perform within constraint- the constraints set by both current and future ability to perform. Thus, any tremendous shift to the supply in any given period of production will be a vast divergence from the company’s long-term strategy and will incur a tremendous cost, making it basically unfeasible to produce beyond a sustainable level. This forces the price elasticity of supply relatively high. Due to the nature of sustainable

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Figure 4. Elasticity comparison

market production, the assumption that a supply curve in a sustainable firm will always be of this general shape (at least relative to a traditional firm) is a safe one to make. On the demand side, we are seeking to stabilize our firm by rendering demand increasingly inelastic and minimizing deadweight loss. The issue begins to become evident here: if the slopes are both elastic, deadweight loss will be relatively small but the ability to make anything above a slight profit will be basically impossible. Conversely, elastic supply and inelastic demand- the situation we are heading toward- allows us to make larger raw profits, but introduces a significantly higher level of deadweight loss. The aforementioned strategy of price and product differentiation will serve to alleviate some of this deadweight loss, as will the decrease, over time, of price elasticity of demand in the green market. An important issue is raised, however, in our discussion of elasticity optimization for green firms: supply, in traditional economics, is notoriously difficult to control. While demand is most frequently seen as a target for firms to manipulate through strategy, supply, ultimately, ends up being a lot less predictable and, in its unpredictability in many cases, a lot more harmful for firms in the market. Firm supply is so unpredictable, in fact, that firms generally spend little time trying to influence it, focusing on demand instead. A sus-

tainable business model, however, has attempted to bypass the issues related to the erratic nature of the supply curve by limiting itself to both present and future supply constraints. While a massive shock to supply cannot be predicated or averted regardless of the business model used, sustainable industry has created a systematic buffer against supply-side irregularities.

Summary of Exchange Value from a Green Perspective A discussion of basic economic concepts and some quick mathematical analysis serves to show the logical basis for sustainability in business. Elasticity reflects the change in factors in the market, and an understanding of elasticity, coupled with a basic understanding of the economic basis of the sustainable business model can help us approach our ideal set of curves for maximizing value in the present and forming a strategy for the long term.

ESSENTIAL VALUE An Introduction to Essential Value Essential value poses somewhat of a problem for practitioners of traditional economic analysis. Economists and analysts are generally friendly to

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figures, far more willing to focus on something that can be measured with universally-accepted metrics than break the mold a little and look into softer aspects of analysis. Even attempts by economists to account for essential value result in often lessthan-adequate measures: the Gini coefficient of economic equality (Yitzhaki, 1979), or the Human Development Index (Neumayer, 2001). Both are generally fine for the very limited purposes they serve, but the fact is that no one has and no one ever will create a metric that adequately explains essential value (McGillivary, 1991). In this discussion, I will attempt to do the concept justice by divorcing it from meaningless and inadequate metrics. Essential value, as mentioned, refers to the fundamental improvement of the societal condition- presumably a priority for a sustainable firm. From the perspective more quantitative analysis, the ultimate goals of a sustainable firm that separate it from a traditional one is longevity and stability. In a discussion of essential value, this goal will be minimizing societal harm and maximizing societal improvement. This is a far cry from the words of Milton Friedman: “”There is one and only one social responsibility of business-to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.”.”(Friedman, 1970)

An Application of Essential Value Obviously, the ultimate goal of a green firm is to operate within environmental constraints, that of a sustainable firm to do so within the constraints not only of the environment but also social, ethical, cultural, and legal ones. These constraints differ wildly depending on the size, sector, methods of production, climate, location and even management decisions of the firm in question. Local environmental laws and regulations may also play a factor, but pressure from lobbyists in many countries render environmental regulation frequently

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spotty. Besides, inherent within the business model of a sustainable firm is finding methods by which to legally and profitably bypass these regulations. Thus, a correctly-managed green firm will be under no pressure from the government to fit environmental regulations- it would have already found a way to meet them. This remains an exceedingly lofty goal, but, again, global shifts in the nature of the economy are making it significantly easier to realize. The largescale shift in the first-world from manufacturing to service as the largest sector of the economy has made it significantly easier for firms to operate within environmental constraints. When the US Department of Environmental Protection was established in 1972, the thought of a zero-emissions firm was nigh-laughable. Today, many exist, and this is more due to responsibility demonstrated by the firms themselves and market shifts than it is to regulation. Even manufacturing firms once considered inherent polluters- such as power, automobile manufacturers and aircraft are beginning to demonstrate greater social responsibility in these areas. Many firms, however, still resort to fairly primitive means of producing essential value- such as reducing carbon footprints through planting trees, or merely donating to environmental organizations. The amount of true essential value this creates is minimal. Methods must be created to completely vertically integrate essential value creation- to create essential value in a firm from the ground up. Thus, the most vital aspect in the creation of essential value is innovation and research. The sustainable sector of the market must seek not only to “clean up” after the fact, but to curb excesses in all stages of production, and the only way this can be done is through research and development.

Summary of Essential Value Research, development and innovation are vital to the idea of essential value creation, especially

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the internalization and integration of essential value in all steps of the production chain. With our discussion of the three forms of value complete, we see the cyclical nature of these ideas: how an innovative firm can increase their essential value, causing them to form new products which can be released to the market. This makes them appear a market leader, which increases product quality and name recognition, creating utility value. As the firm’s products become more ingrained in the market, they become increasingly essential as exchange value is produced. A successful sustainable business model maximizes these three ideas in order to stay socially sound, fiscally stable and financially profitable.

A GREEN ICT BUSINESS STRATEGY Realization of Business Aims In building a strategic framework for re-optimization of the enterprise processes to gainfully incorporate our green ICT goals, there are a number of concerns that we have to keep in mind: 1) Identification of distinct enterprise goals and optimizing with respect to them clearly are the most important steps of all. Goals must align with value and value creation which is the business of all enterprise (actually by definition). For example, the researching, development and sale of a green ICT technology cannot properly commence unless a market need has first been thoroughly researched and identified. This allows the firm not only to work in discreet steps, but also allows for the dissemination of the product to be valuable. 2) Optimization must always be towards a defined and meaningful goal. This in turn implies measurement. As such, all decisions and actions, as much as possible and at whatever level have to be on a measured

basis. Metrication is the gateway to meaning. By this, I mean that any business decision as to effecting changes with respect to the introduction of green ICT must be based on one or a set of measurable effects and the actions taken must be informed by one or a set of measurable and measured actions. Ad hoc introduction of process elements and technologies may succeed by chance but this is purely so; by chance. We also must note that measurement is for two purposes: 1) assessment and steering, 2) goal setting. We must be careful that when assessment is used in the former spirit that it is not punitive or stifling. For example, a large-scale manufacturing firm striving toward the arbitrarily-set goal of being carbon-neutral within ten years will come across tremendous roadblocks on this path, due to the fact that the nature of the firm prevents this from being a promptly attainable goal- not to mention the doubt as to why this would even be a realistic goal. A service or technology firm, however, seeking to do the same as part of an ultimate goal to be “harm-free,” would find this endeavor less daunting and more meaningful. 3) Correct reconciliation of stakeholder views would be paramount. To identify the correct goals, we need to focus on stakeholders and their wishes and perceptions. Stakeholders may be classified in three categories of clients, actors and owners. For example, a sustainable firm operating in the manufacturing sector of a developing economy would scarcely be able to provide as much value to stakeholders as a sustainable firm operating in a developed Western economy in which sustainability is a vital concern across sectors. 4) Structures and interactions are the foci of concern. Structures define the environment and interactions define systems. Enterprises are systems. Like other systems, they may be abstracted in terms of their inherent

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structural, transformational and temporal dimensions. That is, they must be viewed in terms of their structures (what they consist of), their processes and functions (what they do and how change comes about within them and how they bring about change), and when things happen and in what sequence. Detailed models of all three dimensions are essential for comprehensive understanding of an enterprise model and how sustainability might improve such an enterprise. 5) Systems are multi-layered and each layer has (is defined by) a focus. Within our contexts system layers might be defined as: 6) On the demand side we can look at metrication of the marketing effort: for example, at the margin, what would be the impact of an extra dollar spent on marketing activity X, once baselines are assumed? Would the idea of introducing green technologies or enhancing or upgrading the current level of use be productive? How can time and space independence afforded by the use of green ICT technologies assist in realizing a lean marketing approach? Within this context why would green and sustainable technologies be introduced? When? How? 7) On the supply side we can start – again with the concept of green, and particularly Figure 5. Demand and supply side valuation

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green production at Layer 2, and green production plus green service at layer 3. Process quality and process improvement methodologies might be applied here and such programs without question can utilize information source and time independence to their advantage. The challenge would be how to do it in your business. Specifically we could look at the impact of individual decisions (production, service, marketing, etc) to invest and/or institute new strategies or activities on the competence, longevity or social effect of the firm. For example if you are green, are you healthy? In other words do things like green (etc.) add to the bottom line or any other important attribute for which initially they were instituted? Again metrication is the essential element here. In order to determine if specific approaches work (e.g. some specific sustainable strategy) one needs to determine a measure for say “sustainability”, determine how much more efficacious the organization will be upon the introduction of such technology and the trends towards greenness and a relation model that connects this measure to a measure of the attribute that was important and was the target of improvement (e.g. bottom-line). Again here, integration is the essence. Whatever enabling technology we employ, green ICT technologies being one instance, such technologies must integrate throughout the layers. In 6 above we discussed the impact and how to deal with the introduction of enabling technologies at layer 1 of the pyramid that is on the demand side. But such introduction must integrate with the supply side at both the production layer (layer 2) and the layer above it which itself is an integrating layer. 8) Such a model of how such enabling technologies such as green ICT might be identified, justified and implemented may be produced through the development of a framework.

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We start with the general concept, we then determine the essential characteristics of the concept (five or six such characteristics), we then determine the attributes that represent these characteristics, if they are already measured, fine, if not, we propose a set of key concepts or processes that are central in that area and establish an ordinal measure of performance of that particular attribute. We do this kind of identification of characteristics and their measures across the board. The result would be a spectrum of performance indicators (as many as 100 or more, but should aim to keep them between 15 and 50) each measured on an ordinal scale say from 0 to 5 (0 it is not done, 5 it is best practice). 9) Once all this is done, one can use the instrument in two ways: a) to assess and measure the extent of a concept (e.g. effectiveness of green ICT introduction project) within a specific level of an organization or a particular process or project and; b) to do a gap analysis based on a comparison between status quo as determined through an assessment and an optimal scenario which often times can be logically defined. At the very least a comparison to best practice is always possible. It is implied also that in order to succeed, an enterprise must consider itself a part of and indeed be integrated into a larger system. Such an enterprise can obtain and use information at the meta-level that would otherwise be denied it if not thus integrated. Lack of access to this level of information is an important ingredient towards early demise. Enterprises that wish to continue to succeed must integrate. Much of this book is about how to achieve this integration in ICT while staying green or use green ICT as a corporate tool. As you can see, to acquire, manage, grow and most importantly re-optimize successful enterprises one needs information. Information

is obtained, manipulated, used, disseminated and retained. In the preceding sections we set the scene, using an economic basis for the identification of the type of information required to acquire, manage and grow a business sustainably, in our case in the context of ICT. It should be now clear that success is contingent upon concentrating on the basic requirements of a firm in terms of systems of information acquisition, manipulation, dissemination and retention and the forms such systems may take and the technologies used to support such systems. Green ICT technologies should be an integral part of this larger “justified” system. We also talked about the three major elements of valuation of firms. They were: exchange, utility and essential values. Our studies also measured the concepts that are critical in estimating each of these measures. To this list of values, firm longevity, an important goal of sustainable development, can safely be added, as, while it was not discussed within the body of any of the core three values, it was frequently held up as an important ultimate goal. In each of these sections, a major concept was held as a central goal. In sum, these consisted of demand, market structure, social trends and future value, respectively. We also briefly talked about the kind of information needed to conduct such measurements. Table 1 summarizes our findings so far. Any strategy to incorporate green technologies – any strategy that provides a path to transitioning into a green enterprise – must therefore at a minimum pay heed to these elements, concepts, categories and information systems. One way to keep on track therefore would be – in our planning – to start from the right hand side column of the table above and work our way backwards to the left-most column at all times asking ourselves, “does this decision support the spirit of the system, category, concept or finally element under question?” As we see, the ability to forecast is vital to all steps in the creation of a sustainable model. More specifically to the general idea of forecasting, trend data analysis- the economic optimiza-

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Table 1. Major Elements of valuation of firms Element

Concept

Information Drivers

Methods

Utility

Demand

Quality Differentiation Marketing Relevence

Trend data analysis Forecasting Optimization

Exchange

Market Structure

Elasticity Demand Structure Supply Structure

Forecasting Estimating Optimization Trend data analysis

Essential

Social values

Economic Environment Social Environment

Forecasting Estimating Trend data analysis

Longevity

Future Value

Integration Innovation

Forecasting Optimization Trend data analysis

tion of forecasted trends is vital to the sustainability of the firm, both in economic and social realms. In one’s strategic plans towards sustainability, one must ensure that each level is underpinned reasonably, measurably and logically by the level below. The fact is that, while the theories behind green business may sound wonderful on paper, the actual implementation of a green business model can often be significantly more difficult. “Going green” requires a change in the corporate mindset as well as a mere reanalysis of the business model. Unfortunately, some firms may not be ready to adopt sustainable models;. Sustainable business models require the ability to look ahead and make predictions regarding the future of the firm, and this can be extremely difficult for a firm operating on a different model. This is why the idea of firm longevity was added to the core three values only at the end- it should not be a separate goal in and of itself, but an overarching idea that informs decision along the way. The firm must examine its own strengths and weaknesses in a variety of fields, consider all factors of value creation and honestly critique the future of its current business model against what it may change to. While essential value was the concept last discussed above, the most central and fundamental question in green ICT business (in-

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deed it should be at the core of all businesses) stems from the concept of essential value: “Are we able to work within the constraints of a sustainable model?” This may seem a very obvious question, but it is one that can be easily forgotten if it is not referred to constantly. Indeed, it is only after this question is considered with all the various aspects of value creation in mind that it can be truly answered: • • • • •

How can we create a more useful product under these constraints? How can our greenness be sold to the market at large? Are our range of products meaningful given our raison d’être? Can our product be used to both advertise and inform? How can we innovate in an exciting and useful way?

The specifics of these questions are manifold, and obviously differ widely given the nature of each particular firm. What remains essential to all green or potentially green firms, however, is the willingness to remain honest to its own commitments- if the question of sustainability is held paramount for the firm, then the firm’s success

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in an increasingly green and sustainable market will be guaranteed.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS This discussion leads us to the potential for future research and development in the intersecting domains of economics and environment. Following are the areas of future research in this area: •

•

•

Integration in sustainability: i.e., increasingly paperless, digital firms operating entirely within sustainable bounds- in every step of the business process. Firms can soon begin not only to create and sell green products, but also use technologies within their firms, incorporate green partners in their business practices, even serve sustainably-farmed meals at their corporate offices. Sustainability as commodity: increased interest in sustainable methods and products will soon begin to lead to markets where they are more-or-less ‘self-sustaining-: i.e., bought and sold for their own sake. It has become increasingly clear in recent trends that “sustainability” is not just a buzzword: it is increasingly becoming something that is inherently valued. The spread of sustainability: as markets across the world, particularly in very large developing economies such as China and India grow, sustainability will increase as a concern. Sustainability can spread to these markets, not only as social good, but also as a business opportunity for investors. The size of these economies, and the fact that they will soon start adopting sustainable and green ideas en masse will result in a massive swing toward global sustainability.

•

“Guilt-free” business: especially within the context of the credit crunch and the resulting economic collapse, doing business has become increasingly difficult- not only due to the harsh realities of the shifting market, but also a drop in consumer and popular confidence. The introduction of socially responsible business practices will not only serve to increase confidence in firms but also, hopefully, allow this restored confidence to help the economy out of a dark spot.

CONCLUSION In this chapter we dealt with how green technologies might create business value. The presentation centered on an analysis of the concept of value and the idea of strategic incorporation of technology –in our case ICT technologies - in the business process. We put forth that business value from any technology comes when it is applied, in practice, by the business to earn economic as well as social advantage. We showed that such value was also the true – in fact, particularly true - of green technologies, wherein their ability to provide location and time independence is a significant advantage to business. However, such advantage can only be derived when green technologies are carefully incorporated, with a long-term strategic view in mind. The chapter described and discusses such strategic view of green technologies.

REFERENCES Adams, C., & Katos, V. (2005). The Ubiquitous Mobile and Location Aware Technologies Time Bom. Cutter IT journal, 18 (6), pp. 20-26.

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Arthur, J., Bazaz, A., Nance, R., & Balci, O. (2007). Mitigating Security Risks in Systems that Support Pervasive Services and Computing: Access-Driven Verification, Validation and Testing. Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Services; Istanbul, Turkey; IEEE Computer Society Press; July 2007; pp. 109-117 English, A. (2008). Toyota Prius - green winner or loser?Daily Telegraph. Figge, F., & Hahn, T. (2005). The Cost of Sustainability Capital and the Creation of Sustainable Value by Companies. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 9(4). doi:10.1162/108819805775247936Gre enfield, A. (2006). Everyware: the dawning age of ubiquitous computing. New Riders. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders. Freeman, R., Hart, S., & Wheeler, D. (series editors) (2007-2008). Business Value Creation and Society. Cambridge, UK; Cambridge University Press Friedman, M. (1970). Interview with the New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970 Hansmann, U. (2003). Pervasive Computing: The Mobile Word. New York, NY: Springer. Hornigen, C., Sundem, G., Stratton, W., Burgstahler, D., & Schatzberg, J. (2007). Introduction to Management Accounting (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Jarvenpaa, S., Lang, K., Takeda, Y., & Tuunainen, V. (2003). Mobile commerce at crossroads. Communications of the ACM, 46(12). doi:10.1145/953460.953485 Keat, P., & Young, P. (2005). Managerial Economics: Economic Tools for Today’s Decision Makers (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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McGillivary, M. (1991). The human development index: Yet another redundant composite development indicator? World Development, 19(10). Neumayer, E. “The Human Development Index and Sustainability-A Constructive Proposal”; Ecological Economics, 31(1); 2001Phu, D.; Jamieson, R. (2005); “Security Risks in Mobile Business” Proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Mobile Business (ICMB’05); Sydney, Australia, IEEE Computer Society Press; July 2005; pp. 121-127Russell, Pam (2009): ” Iberdrola wins state approval to build 306-MW wind project in South Dakota”; Global Power Report, 15(3) Sanford (2009): “Renewable Energy – Towering Achievement”; Modern Power System, 12(7) Savage, L. J., & Freidman, M. (1948). The Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk. The Journal of Political Economy, 56(4). Unhelkar, B. (2009). Creating and Applying Green IT Metrics and Measurement in Practice. In Piccoli, G., (Ed.) Green IT Metrics and Measurement: The Complex Side of Environmental Responsibility, 9(10), pp 10-17. Cutter Benchmark Review (CBR). Varian, H. R. (1996). Differential Pricing and Efficiency. First Monday, 1(2). Whitten, P., Mylod, D., Gavran, G., & Sypher, H. (2008). Most Wired Hospitals Rate Patient Satisfaction. Communications of the ACM, 51(4). doi:10.1145/1330311.1330330 Yitzhaki, S.(1979). Relative Depravation and the GINI Coefficient. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Younessi, H. (2009). Strategic View on Creating Business Value through Mobile Technologies. In Handbook of Research on Mobile Business (2nd ed.). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Value: A measure of loss experienced in giving up a good or service Exchange Value: Value realized through production of monetary revenue and measured by economic profits Utility Value: Value realized through ascribing usefulness to a good or service by the customer of that good or service Essential Value: Value realized through fundamental improvement of the societal condition Green Technology(ies): ICT technologies used to facilitate operation within an environmentally sound framework.

Sustainability: The extent to which a business is able or is likely to continue to perform its operations, given the constraints of the environmental and economic scarcities it faces Price and Product Differentiation: Products produced by a firm separated according to price and consumer demand. Information Problem: Market inefficiency, sometimes exploited by them, caused by consumers not being properly educated vis-à-vis a firm or product. Elasticity: A change in one factor over a change in another; mathematically, dx/dy. Should always be referred to in the form of “y elasticity of x,” e.g. “price elasticity of demand.”

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Chapter 8

Information Systems for a Green Organisation Yogesh Deshpande University of Western Sydney, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia

ABSTRACT Green ICT is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. It is a new and rapidly evolving discipline with new terminologies, experimental results, regulatory restrictions and policy recommendations from scientists, ICT organizations and governments. Organizations need to monitor their practices and ICT usage carefully in order to formulate effective policies, control processes and manage content based on sound architectures. Green ICT contains a high level of complexity because of uncertainty of processes, data quality and reliability. It is also beset by dissent and debate that engulfs wider disciplines such as technology itself, sociology, ethics and law – all of which reflects into the amalgamation of wide ranging data. The success or failure of Green ICT policies is determined by the way an organisation manages the participation and social interactions of its employees and customers. A green organization works on enhancing the data and information management within the organization that revolves around information systems, their databases and their applications. This chapter takes cognizance of the overall complexity of the field and aims to bring to the fore formal, research-based approaches to the use of data and information in the domain of Green ICT to enable organizations to change in a systematic, controlled and measured manner through information portals based on ontologies. The ontological considerations include user perspectives on green ICT, actual use of information in greening an organization, and dispersal of knowledge not only within the organization but also across the industry. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch008

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Information Systems for a Green Organisation

INTRODUCTION Green ICT, usually termed Green IT or Green computing, has been defined or described by several sources (Murugesan, 2008, Lamb, 2009, Wikipedia, 2010 and Webopedia, 2010). Murugesan (2008) gives a comprehensive definition which is also used by Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Green_computing, retrieved on 7.2.2010): “the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. Green IT also strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. Thus, green IT includes the dimensions of environmental sustainability, the economics of energy efficiency, and the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. It is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently.” Lamb (2009) simplifies this definition to: “Green IT is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently” and elaborates on it in an almost identical fashion to Murugesan. Webopedia’s definition also includes all stages in the life cycle of ICT equipment, from manufacturing to final disposal. This chapter considers Green ICT mainly from the perspective of non-ICT manufacturing organizations. Green ICT then relates to acquisition, usage and disposal of ICT equipment in an environmentally friendly manner. The ICT equipment will range from laptops, PCs and printers to all types of servers and data centres. By consensus, the supporting equipment such as air-conditioning units or facilities like specialized centres are excluded from Green ICT. The chapter assumes that organizations will want to create and implement policies and procedures for Green ICT. This assumption is

important because the topic of climate change has raised controversies and doubts have been cast on the methodologies used in assessing the climate change. Even as this chapter was being drafted, there were newspaper reports that two major organisations conducting research in climate change, viz. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC- http://www.ipcc.ch) and Climate Research Unit (CRU) at University of East Anglia (http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk), had not shown due diligence in drawing conclusions about cause and effect of climate change. Since then, the allegation has been refuted and additional criticisms, including in Australia, of political interference in scientific validity of climate change are being flagged (http://www.abc.net.au/news/ stories/2010/02/11/2816431.htm). It is safe to assume that an organization will seek ways and means to start working towards Green ICT policies. The issue of reliability and credibility of data and information in the green space has assumed significant proportions. This challenge to reliability is further compounded by the enormous amount of data and information available from diverse sources, such as ICT manufacturers, research organizations and governments at local, national and international levels. The chapter takes cognizance of the overall complexity of this field and aims to bring to the fore formal, research-based approaches to the use of data and information in the domain of Green ICT to enable organizations to change in a systematic, controlled and measured manner. While the overall ‘green agenda’ is a movement in the right direction, the concerns addressed in this chapter are important from an information systems perspective. The approach outlined here will enable organizations to bring about sensible and sustainable changes in the management of their information and knowledge that will not only serve the ‘green agenda’, but will also have a positive influence on the overall business efficiency. At the heart of the analysis and discussion in this chapter is the basic need of an organisation

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to know what it can and should do to counter the effects of climate change in general and minimize them specifically from an IT perspective (Green ICT) through information systems. A brief answer is to gather pertinent and reliable data and information from all the relevant sources and then develop appropriate policies and procedures that are understood and properly implemented by employees at all levels. There are two alternative solutions to the overall problem of gathering relevant information from multiple sources and developing appropriate Green ICT policies: a) out-source and hand over the responsibility to the out-sourced agent, with the attendant costs and issues about the quality of advice received as well as ongoing development after the agent has departed; b) start an in-house project to develop solution strategies and involve the work-force in them with the attendant issues of forming a good project team, ensuring the quality of the work and cost control. In either case, the responsibility of the organization in matters of Green ICT will remain with the top management. There is a specific difference between Green ICT and other organizational matters in that Green ICT is a very new and rapidly evolving area, fuzzy to most people and yet crucial for the well-being of any organization that relies heavily on ICT. It is essential that the top management understands well what Green ICT involves in order to make correct decisions. There is a parallel here to the early days of the World Wide Web when rank amateurs created Web sites and Web applications without proper understanding of organizations and their customers, reducing the effectiveness and potential of the Web-based solutions. The rest of the chapter is organized as follows. The next section considers the role of IS in greening of an organization, followed by identification of

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‘green’ areas and relevant information. This leads to a look at the possible information overload, based on a short and sharp look at the current literature. The chapter then concentrates on gathering and communication of information relating to Green ICT, including government regulations, across an organization to help in change management. Discussion of these strategies leads to the start of identifying ontological basis for information systems in Green ICT. The chapter concludes with future directions and further work. The main purpose of this chapter is to enable efficient information management and reduce information overload for any organisation working on their Green ICT policies in an ongoing and evolving solution strategy. The recommendations include not only data and information perspective, but also people (employees, customers etc.) in the adoption of the strategy, incorporating technologies, old and new, to help to tap the employee and customer potential and involvement. The next section examines the role of IS in ‘greening’ an organization.

RELATING INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO GREEN ORGANIZATION Organisations have been managing their information and knowledge in an increasingly sophisticated manner through improvements in processes, content management and architectures. This sophistication is further enhanced by the application of technologies such as those of Web Services, Cloud-computing and mobile communications. These advances in ICT enable organizations to extract information from outside the organizational boundary through servicebased architecture of the information systems. Green ICT and environmental concerns require the use of these emerging technologies in a way that also impacts positively the normal business efficiency. However, the green angle to the use of these technologies is recent. Whereas the ex-

Information Systems for a Green Organisation

isting information and knowledge management systems deal with the overall organization, there is a need to extend and advance those systems to enable handling of environmental information within and outside the organization, for example, data on carbon compliance, regulations related to that compliance, carbon generated in the supply chain and so on. Similarly, there are experimental results, case studies and policy recommendations from governments, industry associations, and academic and research institutes that come from outside the organizational boundary. The need to assimilate this data and to judge its applicability in specific circumstances, on a continual basis, to improve the organisation’s green credentials and performance could not have been higher than now. The accumulation of this information and knowledge is not an end in itself. Management, ICT and other professionals within the organizations need to use the knowledge and the associated, emerging technologies as a means to effect changes in their environmental behavior, which necessarily requires employee and customer participation. Thus, it is essential that the strategies for acquisition and management of information as well as for proper implementation include all the employees in order to influence their practices, secure their participation and thus ensure success of the overall campaign. Harding (2002), in his preface to the book Environmental Decision-Making, puts it rather succinctly: “Given the critical state of the world’s environment, it is crucial to employ all of the beneficial knowledge, technology and tools that scientists, engineers and other professionals can offer.”. However, as Harding agrees, even the most sophisticated scientific and technological knowledge is by itself inadequate. The need for people, at all levels, to make a commitment to applying the principle of environmental consciousness during their work and personal lives is vital. In support, Harding also quotes from an editorial in The Times(22 June 1995), going back to the problems of dismantling the North Sea oil rig: “However technical an issue – and

decommissioning the detritus of the North Sea oil industry is highly technical – it is not enough to have sound strategies. They must be more effectively and openly explained. Where public trust is lacking expect the Greepeaces of the world to storm the field.” Essentially, we are thus confronted with the problem of creating an action-oriented, evolving data and knowledge base for the organization and its trading partners in an open and trustworthy manner in the context of green ICT. Brady (2008), in his blog after a panel discussion in a workshop on “The Challenges of Going Green”, suggests that a lay person is at present generally confused when it comes to green IT, green PCs and related topics. Consequently, we need to record appropriate terminology, definitions, variables, measurements and their reliability. There is a general advice from all concerned that energy consumption, including that by ICT equipment, be reduced as much as possible in all spheres of life. This is particularly true when electricity is generated from fossil-fuel fired power stations. There are models to compute the likely power consumption due to electronic equipment, some of which are simplistic, not allowing for variations in usage or variability in consumption depending on the state of the equipment (busy or idle). As Schulz (2009) points out: “Various vendors have different types of calculators, some with focus on power, cooling, floor space, carbon offsets or emissions, ROI, TCO and other IT data center infrastructure resource management. This is an evolving list and by no means definitive even for a particular vendor as different manufactures may have multiple different calculators for different product lines or areas of focus.”.. An online carbon calculator from the Victorian government in Australia, for example, has a disclaimer saying that the results “are an approximate guide... should be used only as a guide and not as a substitute for formal professional advice” (http://www.epa.vic. gov.au/ecologicalfootrint/calculators/default.asp, retrieved 15 March 2010).

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Monitoring the actual power consumption of each and every piece of electronic equipment can be a big problem in logistics. In order to derive and define good policies in such circumstances, it becomes necessary to make assumptions which must be periodically checked for validity. The question also arises as to how far policies and procedures followed by one organization will be applicable in another and for how long. Scientific sampling, statistical techniques for extrapolation and also sophisticated metering and measurements are part of today’s needs to tackle environmental responsibilities by organizations. Green ICT information management therefore needs to include ways to measure, monitor, analyse and verify the environmental information. What the foregoing suggests is that the construction of the information and knowledge base in Green ICT, verification of its accuracy and reliability, and education of employees and customers must be undertaken in a formal and continual basis. What we currently have is a dispersed collection of facts, opinions, policy documents, recommendations, measurements, experiments and their results, all reported across a variety of media. They need to be classified properly, recorded, managed and made available to people in multiple forms in an open way. We thus move towards a much larger effort necessary to build up knowledge of Green ICT among stakeholders, employees as well as management, all coming from different perspectives and concerns and from sources both inside and outside the organization. This requirement invariably leads to consideration of the actual context of a given organisation. Although many aspects of Green ICT are likely to be generally applicable to all organisations, the strategies used to arrive at and implement policies and procedures as well to educate employees and customers may have to be tailored for the concerned organization. Green ICT per se gives an impression of going beyond organisational boundaries but it also exhibits different characteristics depending on the organisations (large or small, service or

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manufacturing, local or regional or national or international, part of the developing or developed economies). These are all complex issues and areas. The remaining sections tackle them one by one in order to make a start in each case.

AREAS OF GREEN ICT IN THE ORGANIZATION People, processes and technologies are all affected by Green ICT initiatives of an organization (www. connectionresearch.com.au). People within the organization provide the basis for attitude and changes to the attitude relating to Green ICT. Therefore, it becomes essential to establish the current level of knowledge of the people within an organization and the policies and procedures required to transition that organization to a green organization. This can be achieved through sampling of roles and conducting interviews as also running a survey – both of which can become a complex and time-consuming tasks. The complexity stems from the initial uncertainty and immaturity of Green ICT information which impacts on the questions to be asked. The first problem, therefore, could well be the form and content of the questions to be asked. The second problem is in the nature of information gathering. The methods of collecting details of employees’ knowledge levels, e.g. surveys, interviews, focused-group meetings, will lead to snapshots that may remain valid only for a short time. Knowledge acquisition is a continuous and dynamic process, particularly so in the Green ICT space where the world is engaged in creating and acquiring knowledge on green issues on a vast scale. Consequently, snapshots of levels of knowledge are likely to be of dubious value at the best of times and waste of resources otherwise. On the other hand, it will be short-sighted to ignore whatever expertise already exists within the organisation. When external consultants are appointed to increase the aware-

Information Systems for a Green Organisation

ness of Green ICT within the organisation and to help formulate the necessary policies, it would be advisable to actively engage employees and utilize their expertise in these efforts from the outset. In addition to surveys and interviews it is essential to create a well-designed information portal for Green ICT, both to inform the employees (and customers) and to encourage their participation to contribute to the knowledge base as well as to critique the existing entries. This is a participatory endeavour, in contrast to the existing information portals in an organisation which may provide details of policies, procedures, various application forms and publicity materials. The current portals allow mainly passive access to the users, whether they are on the intranet or the Internet. Where interactivity is implemented, it is restricted to submission of forms or specific data related to users’ queries. Also, these portals and their updates are the province of a select group of professionals, whether in-house or out-sourced. Employees may, at times, be granted limited privileges to create content related to their own profiles and/ or their specific work. These limitations to employee participation will work against effective Green ICT portals. For Green ICT portals, an engaged work-force will be invaluable in vetting the information sources, quality and reliability of information and in identifying new sources of relevant information. Use of ICT technologies is ubiquitous in orgnisations and every employee must be engaged in the Green ICT initiative to ensure its success. Even management of data centres, a domain of ICT professionals, is not immune to general employee involvement. Schulz (2009), in his book ‘The Green and Virtual Datacenter’, addresses specifically data centre personnel but a simple enumeration of strategies and tasks makes clear the role of other employees and higher management in dealing with items such as reducing energy costs, addressing environmental health and safety issues, disposal of e-waste and removal of hazardous substances (pp 323-324.

The goal of employee and customer participation can be achieved by moving the organisation from Web to Web 2.0. Such participation will also help in countering the negative influences and attitudes that people bring to bear upon implementation of policies and procedures. For example, people working within and with the organisation display various attitudes to Green ICT. The attitudes can range from outright denial of environmental and other effects to passionate support for measures to negate the adverse effects of ICT on the environment. In our opinion, the best way to deal with such differences is to establish, publish and emphasise facts, their sources and their reliability. Well-articulated policies and procedures will then have a better chance of success than any dicta from the management. There is a danger here, through wider participation of employees and other people that excessive amount of information in forms and formats difficult to assimilate may be made available to the stakeholders, reflecting the current state of Green ICT information in the wider world today. The next section deals with the possibility of consequent information overload and ways to counter it.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD IN GREEN ICT SYSTEMS This section analyses the question of available information on Green ICT and the consequent likelihood of information overload in the context of the simple scenario outlined at the start of the chapter, viz. an organisation wants to know what it can and should do to minimise and also to counter the effects of climate change in general and how it can make a start with ‘Green ICT’, along with other initiatives. Several aspects of collecting information need to be highlighted before this problem can be tackled satisfactorily. The first one is the possible sources of information. The second aspect is the scale of information that is available at any given time.

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The third aspect is a combination of reliability and relevance of the available information to the organization in question. Then there are questions on ways of gathering the relevant information and making it available to management, employees and customers, keeping in view their separate perspectives. As mentioned before, information gathering and seeking answers or guides to the specific questions related to Green ICT may be done by various means, including outsourcing or insourcing. Another possible method to collect information has recently been proposed, called ‘crowd-sourcing’ which stands for distributed problem solving and production model (Howe, 2006). Whichever strategies or their combinations, are adopted, an information portal, as depicted in Figure 1, would be essential for the success of the initiative. The portal is at the centre with sources and destinations of information on either side of the portal. The portal is divided into two parts. The top half corresponds to information coming from external sources and the bottom half is for internal sources and destinations for information. The arrows show

the direction of the flow of information into and out of the portal. There is a tremendous amount of information available on the causes of climate change and possible strategies to counter them. Information on Green ICT is dispersed and diffused amongst various agencies and media within the organization. Examples of such agencies include ICT organizations, governments, industry, research organizations and standard bodies. They are shown in Figure 1. ‘ICT organizations’ include both software and hardware companies, such as Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and Google, as well as professional organizations such as ACM, BCS and IEEE. ‘Industry’ refers to the specific sector that the hypothetical organization belongs to, for example, chemical or airlines or universities, from where one could draw upon relevant case studies and recommendations. ‘Government’ sources could be local, state, or national. ‘Research centres’ include research institutes in general with specific projects in Green ICT or specialised research institutions concentrating on Green ICT like GreenGrid or more general ones, like IPCC.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework for a Green ICT Information Portal (© Deshpande and Unhelkar, 2010)

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‘Standards bodies’ cover standards as well as legislations as follows: •

•

•

•

ISO 14000: addresses various aspects of environmental management resulting in a environmental management system (EMS) (http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_14000_essentials.htm) NGERS: National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting and its calculator (http://www. climatechange.gov.au/reporting, retrieved 15 March 2010) OSCAR: National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System Calculator (the Calculator) (https://www.oscar.gov. au/Deh.Oscar.Extension.Web/Content/ NgerThresholdCalculator/, retrieved 15 March 2010). CPRS: Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, (http://www.climatechange.gov. au/publications/cprs/white-paper/cprswhitepaper.aspx, retrieved 15 March 2010)

Media outlets, such as BBC, ABC, and the newspapers will also be useful. The list is mainly for illustration purposes. A systematic approach in the creation and maintenance of the information portal and employee participation will very likely result in a quick growth of this list. The relevant information comes from external agencies as well as from within the organisation in various forms, as shown in the centre of Figure 1 – glossaries, scientific and research publications; books; white papers; policies and procedures from inter-governmental bodies, governments and other institutions; Web sites; case studies in various form; specific applications; and articles in newspapers and magazines. From within the organization, there will be Green ICT measurements and specific organizational data. The entries on the lower right hand side of the portal indicate the main groupings within the organization. Top management are the decision makers, the Green project team, assuming one is

formed, would be the implementers and advisors. Middle managers are mainly administrative, and employees and customers are active users. Each group brings its own perspective that will help to identify their information needs and ability to add to the existing data, including experiential information. The main reason to enumerate both the sources and the forms in which information may be available is to re-emphasise the fact that both the sources and the derived information will continue to expand and exhibit varying quality and reliabilit. The biggest responsibility of whoever is in-charge of the information portal, whether out-sourced or in-house, will be to ensure the veracity and credibility of information on a continual basis. The implicit scale of this operation is such that it is a job best done by involving end-users rather than by restricting it to a small, designated team of professionals working as an independent and complete unit in itself, perhaps reporting only to the senior management. This strategy may also be extended across the industry sector to which the organization belongs. This is further discussed in the section on “Strategies for Gathering Green ICT Information”, next. The scale of the available information becomes clearer with Table 1 which gives the number of hits from online searches of two categories of information sources. The first three rows in Table 1 report the numbers from three search engines, viz, Google, Yahoo and Bing. The next six rows in the same table demonstrate the number of hits from highly reputable sources for information on ICT, viz. The ACM portal, IEEE eXplore, ProQuest, Emerald, Science Direct and Wiley InterScience. There are obviously many other reputable sources of information on ICT themes, including the journals on Information Systems and business areas. There are also other agencies such as Intel, IBM and GreenGrid concentrating on Green ICT. The search engine results most likely include contributions from these sources.

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Following are additional Notes on the searches conducted above: 1) ProQuest hits represent mostly news articles which by their nature are generally derivative. As far as possible, the information portal should use primary sources of information. If news articles are included in the portal, there should be an explicit annotation to that effect, to alert the reader that the reliability of the primary source is yet to be established. 2) Emerald hits are categorised under journals, books, bibliographic databases, and sites but are aggregated here. A more detailed breakdown will help to establish the credibility of the sources and, hence, the reliability of information collected. 3) ScienceDirect hits include references to papers in chemistry as well. No further analysis has been undertaken at this stage to establish if they are relevant to Green ICT. Scientific results are best interpreted by the researchers in each specific area, which implies that the project team responsible for the information portal should call upon the relevant experts to judge the reliability and applicability. 4) Wiley identifies references from journals, online books, reference works, and data-

bases. The numbers shown are aggregates across these works. The previous observations about reliability apply here as well. 5) Along with the results, some search engines suggest other related terms/phrases for further exploration. They include, for example, “what is green computing”, “other green computing issues”, “cloud computing”, “grid computing”, “IT and environmental protection”, “IT and energy efficiency”, “IT and green buildings” and others. They have not been explored further at this stage. The numbers reported in Table 1 need to be put into perspective. The three popular search engines include all the sources that they index in English language, which means that the results may have missed out on contributions from other major languages unless they have been translated in English. The other six sources cover specifically the publications for which their parent organisations are responsible. These six sources mainly deal with refereed journals, conference proceedings and books, with a singular exception of ProQuest whose hits are mainly from news articles. An interesting facet of these results is that when the searches are repeated over days and weeks, the numbers change only infrequently (rarely day by

Table 1. Raw results from online searching Key phrases Search Engines

“Green ICT”

“Green Computing”

Google

1.2 millions

631 millions

26.1 millions

Yahoo

17.4 millions

3,780 millions

106 millions

Bing

1.77 millions

315 millions

14.2 millions

ACM Portal

341

11,175

10,893

IEEE eXplore

6

29

32

ProQuest

35

5487

542

Emerald

404

20,104

1,519

Science Direct

3643

959,622

52,475

Wiley

47

32,676

6,146

Online search conducted on 29.1.2010 with the key phrase “Green ICT”

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“Green IT”

Information Systems for a Green Organisation

day), reflecting the fact that the number of refereed papers, and books, does not increase rapidly. On the other hand, the hits reported by the three search engines increase significantly on a daily basis simply because of the overall contributions by individuals, corporations, governments and other agencies in the form of white papers, scholarly articles which may not be refereed, policies and procedures, case studies, critiques and opinion pieces as well as news stories. As far as gathering information on Green ICT is concerned, all such materials may well be relevant. Their veracity and reliability may not be as high as those of the refereed papers but the information itself may be highly topical, for example a successful adoption of a specific strategy or even the failure of another one, neither of which may make it to a refereed journal or conference.

GREEN ICT REGULATORY CONSTRAINTS Regulatory acts such as NGERS and CPRS (www. climatechange.gov), as mentioned earlier in this chapter, require organizations to mandatorily report their carbon emissions once they reach a certain level. For example, all organizations within Australia that emit 150 Kilo tonnes of carbon are now under mandatory reporting regulation (from Oct 2009). Regulatory bodies provide benchmarking calculators, such as OSCAR (mentioned earlier in this chapter) for basic calculations of green house gases. These calculators are used to show how an organization is performing in terms of its carbon emissions. Green information systems can source this external data, store, analyze and broadcast it to enable improvement of performance of the organization. These organizational specific green information systems need to be much more sophisticated than the basic calculators provided by the regulatory bodies (Unhelkar and Philipson, 2009.

In summary, information on Green ICT comes from many sources, in many forms, is big in scale and growing all the time, not always reliable and can very quickly lead to information overload. It becomes necessary, therefore, to develop some viable strategies in order to collect relevant and reliable information without becoming a victim to its volume. The next section makes a start in this direction.

STRATEGIES FOR GATHERING RELEVANT GREEN INFORMATION Starting on a fresh quest to collect Green ICT information and then judging their relevance look to be mammoth tasks. Fortunately, there exist many guidelines to start the effort and many more are being written all the time by government agencies, independent bodies and large corporations. Books, case studies (IT@Intel, IBM, Microsoft – see Reference section for examples), white papers, and research programmes also add to the specifics. It is thus possible to formulate strategies for both information and knowledge management on an evolving basis. Researchers have in fact recently identified what is being termed as “Enterprise Crowdsourcing” (http://www.e-crowdsourcing. org/, retrieved 15 March 2010), in contrast with out-sourcing and in-sourcing, which is very much applicable here. Crowdsourcing is a term coined by Jeff Howe (2006) and stands for distributed problem solving and production model. The Web site for e-crowdsourcing suggests that: “Over the past few years the crowdsourcing paradigm has evolved from its humble beginnings as isolated purposebuilt initiatives, such as Wikipedia and Elance and Mechanical Turk to a growth industry employing over 2 million knowledge workers, contributing over half a billion dollars to the digital economy. Web 2.0 provides the technological foundations upon which the crowdsourcing paradigm evolves and operates, enabling networked experts to work collaboratively to complete a specific task. Enter-

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prise crowdsourcing poses interesting challenges for both academic and industrial research along the social, legal, and technological dimensions.” By its description, Enterprise Crowdsourcing combines both information gathering and dissemination. The next section briefly looks at communication or dissemination of information and discusses the question of strategies for creating and managing the Green ICT information portal in more detail.

STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNICATING GREEN INFORMATION The chapter has argued that green ICT initiatives require engaging the employees, customers and other stakeholders in the process. They also enable measurement, monitoring and mitigation of environmental performance of organizations. The green information systems collect, store, analyse and disseminate data and information on a continual basis within and outside organization. Strategies for communicating such ICT information in a corporate setup require creation of underlying technologies as well as creating user networks. Figure 1 showed broad classification of people within the organization that can be incorporated in the green information strategy of the organization. A greater granularity in user groups may be desirable. The groupings may be based on similar interests, practices or specific topics. Various developments in Web 2.0 or social Web allow for user participation at many levels, subject to the security and privacy policies and regulations. Following on from Figure 1, above, Figure 2 outlines some of the technologies that facilitate collection of data and information from outside sources as well collaboration within the organization. The forms of interaction are varied and one or more can be chosen for the information portal, as necessary, for:

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•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

commenting, rating and bookmarking green resources within and outside the organization working together on an online policy document that is integrated with the organization’s processes formation of green communities and groups of practice with like-minded colleagues around issues related to measuring and monitoring information creating personal profiles to facilitate initiation of contacts within the organization and also with regulatory bodies from outside instantaneous messaging between colleagues, advisors, consultants and regulators blogging on the topic of green ICT and especially data gathering creation of RSS feeds related to green interests, and also converting them into aggregated and syndicated feeds Tagging of data and information pieces, as well as success stories and challenges in the attempt to promote green ICT

The technologies that enable these interactions include Wikipedia, blogs, podcasts, Twitter, Web services, RSS feeds and general interactivity with the portal. The contributions need to be monitored for accuracy and integrity of information as well observance of social norms. While the Green ICT project team could ensure the workings of these technologies, the overall supervision of the content is best handled by another team with representation from the top management. The last two sections covered collecting and communicating/disseminating information on Green ICT. The approach may seem to be a ‘grab-all’ one, indicating a lack of discrimination in what is being done. An ontological approach is essential to prevent the consequences of a helterskelter approach. The next section makes a start with the necessary ontological basis.

Information Systems for a Green Organisation

ONTOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE GREEN ICT INFORMATION PORTAL At best, there is an implicit assumption in the foregoing sections, viz. that there is an agreed, well understood and stable terminology or vocabulary for collection, dissemination and discussions of data and information. This is far from the case. Furthermore, it is very likely that people within an organization will need: a) a subset of the total vocabulary, and b) a customized set for their specific circumstances. It is not entirely clear at this stage as to which attributes of the collected data will be regarded as essential and which may be neglected by a specific group of people. Figure 3, continuing from Figures 1 and 2, illustrates this point. The attributes shown there are not universally adopted nor are they complete in themselves. The attributes of information from internal sources are also likely to be somewhat different from those from external sources. Social interactions are evolutionary by their nature. The terms used in these interactions also

change over time. New measurements and results add to the vocabulary. This is especially true of a new discipline like Green ICT in which people worldwide are working to establish and add to the total knowledge base. The proposed Green ICT information portal, in actual working, will totally depend on the successful integration of the social interactions of all the people vis-à-vis Green ICT, whether it be in monitoring ICT usage or formulating and executing Green ICT policies. Efficient usage of ICT is of interest and consequence to everyone, both in terms of the environmental effect and the cost implications. It is an area where terminologies and standards are still evolving and experimentation will continue. ICT equipment usage must be monitored and policies formulated and changed in the light of the available information. Further, the rapid changes in ICT will continue to influence Green ICT in every way. It follows, therefore, that the information portal and its ontological base must be evolutionary and open to external and internal influences, though moderated by a team to ensure its integrity and veracity.

Figure 2. Examples of Sources of Information and Technologies for Collaboration (© Deshpande and Unhelkar, 2010)

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Figure 3. Illustrative Attributes of Information (© Deshpande and Unhelkar, 2010)

USING INFORMATION FOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT Decision makers and other employees in an organization find it easier to substantiate their initiatives and effort when the change related to the environment is accurately measured and reported. Green ICT information systems can play a major role in providing this support. The amount of carbon generated by each individual employee’s working day needs to be measured, collated and reported with the help of information systems. This information should be provided as a feedback to the employee. For example, if an employee in a bank is provided, as a real-time meter, information on the amount of carbon generated by his computer, then it would be easier for that person to visualize the effect of not-turning off her computer when it is not in use, encouraging and reinforcing a positive change in the behavior of the employee. Similarly there are a few ways of using the information coming out of the Green ICT systems of the organization to bring about positive change. These could include reports of daily, monthly and yearly GHG generation and using that data to impact the policies and processes of the organization. Green ICT-based change is a

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change for the better for the organization because such change will invariably make the organization conscious of the total effect of their current policies and usage patterns leading to more efficient workplace. The cost-benefits of the effort to change can provide the necessary validation of the previous statement. Thus Green ICT information systems need to produce figures that not only focus on the environmental performance of the organization but also its overall efficiency and effectiveness. As mentioned by us earlier, the success of changes to environmental consciousness is closely tied with the way such changes also impact the bottom line of the organization.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND CONCLUSION This chapter explored the necessity and applicability of information systems to the green initiatives of an organization. The chapter highlighted the need to extend the data and information management approaches of an organization to a collaborative approach that would include multiple organizations and their information silos from within and outside their organizational boundar-

Information Systems for a Green Organisation

ies. The chapter also discussed the importance of ontological approach to information gathering to facilitate searching and sharing of green data and information on a continual basis was provided. There is tremendous amount of work to be done in the Green ICT area. Establishing useful ‘green information’ portals will require astute strategic direction, clear policies and procedures and sound tactical development. There are many new technologies and developments constantly coming up which will facilitate both information gathering, dissemination and for specific actions. Technologies such as XML, SOA, mobile services, collaborative Web services across the industry verticals and with the regulatory bodies, virtualization and cloud computing hold promises in making the information systems sophisticated to enable organizations, their employees and their customers to improve their performance in the ICT area. The future in terms of the greenhouse effects points to urgent and effective action based on quality information, which is the bedrock of all systematic and scientific efforts.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The first author acknowledges his debt to Mr Howard Leslie for discussions on information management in the architecture, engineering and construction sector, which have helped in clarifying the ontological bases for different types of information.

REFERENCES Brady, T. (2008). Green IT – Does the Consumer Understand It? Retrieved from http://blogs.intel. com/csr/2008/01/green _it_does_the_consumer_ und.php, (retrieved 24.2.2010)

DeVetter, D., & Breton, M. (2009).Reducing Energy Use in Offices to Increase IT Sustainability, IT@Intel White Paper, Intel, November 2009 Ecological Footprint Calculators. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ec ologicalfootprint/calculators/default.asp (retrieved 24.1.2010) Giri, R. A., & Vanchi, A. (2010). Increasing Data Center Efficiency with Server Power Measurements. IT@Intel White Paper, Intel, January 2010 Green Data Center Blog. (2010) Monitoring, Modeling, Memetics in the Green Data Center. Retrieved from http://www.greenm3.com/ (retrieved 24.1.2010) Guyon, B., Rueda, G., & Sheridan, C. (2009). Establishing Baseline Measurements and a Roadmap for IT Sustainability. IT@Intel White Paper, Intel, September 2009 IBM. (2007) Blade servers a powerful solution to a heated issue. Retrieved from http://www. bizinsight.com.au/case_s tudies.aspVictoria.html (retrieved 24.1.2010) IBM. (2007) The first Australian IT company to go completely carbon neutral. Retrieved from http://www.bizinsight.com.au/ca se_studies.aspRenewTek.html (retrieved 24.1.2010) IBM. (2007) How a web hosting company offset the carbon from 240 servers. Retrieved from http:// www.bizinsight.com.au/ca se_studies.aspDigiWeb.html (retrieved 24.1.2010) IBM. (2007) How a university reduced data centre energy consumption by15%. Retrieved from http:// www.bizinsight.com.au/case_studies.aspBryant. asp.htm (retrieved 24.1.2010) ITWIRE. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.itwire. com/index.php?optio n=com_content&task=view &id=30531&Itemid=127 (retrieved 24.1.2010) Lamb, J. (2009) Greening of IT. Upper Saddle River, NJ: IBM Press, Pearson plc.

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Lamb, J. (2010) A Blog by Joev - Musings of a Microsoft Technologist with an environmental bent. Retrieved from http://blogs.msdn.com/joev/ archive/2 009/11/09/green-it-expo-2009-uk.aspx (retrieved 24.1.2010)

Stevens, I., & Sheridan, P. (2009). United Kingdom: Sustainable ICT Strategies: Copenhagen Accord And Beyond (http://www.mondaq. com/article.asp?articleid=91440 – retrieved on 24.1.2010)

Microsoft. (2010) Software Enabled Earth – Microsoft’s Environment Sustainability Blog. Retrieved from http://blogs.msdn.com/see/default. aspx (retrieved 24.1.2010)

The Challenges of Going Green. (n.d.). Retrieved from (http://www.ipc.org/calendar/2008 /C ES_0108/GoingGreen_0108.htm)

Microsoft. (2010). Bringing people together to save energy and money. Retrieved from http:// www.microsoft.com /environment/hohm.aspx (retrieved 24.1.2010) Microsoft Environment. (2010) Innovating to Improve the Planet. Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/environment/ (retrieved 24.1.2010) Microsoft Environment. (2010) Microsoft’s Top 10 Business Practices for Environmentally Sustainable Data Centers http://www.microsoft. com/environment/ou r_commitment/articles/ datacenter_bp.aspx (retrieved 24.1.2010) Microsoft Environment. (2010) Advancing Power Management with Windows 7 http://www.microsoft.com/environment/windows7.aspx (retrieved 24.1.2010) Murugesan, S. (2008). Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices. IEEE. IT Professional, (January-February): 24–33. doi:10.1109/ MITP.2008.10 Reimsbach-Kounatze, C. (2009). Towards Green ICT Strategies: Assessing Policies and Programmes on ICT and the Environment.OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 155, OECD publishing. OECD. Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (2008) Green ICT Strategy.

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UK Cabinet Office. (2009). Greening Government ICT http Vanchi, A., Kannan, S., & Giri, R. (2009) Increasing Data Center Efficiency through Metering and Monitoring Power Usage. IT@Intel White Paper, Intel, June 2009 Wallsandt, S., & Snyder, S. (2009). Building a Long-term Strategy for IT Sustainability, IT@ Intel White Paper, Intel, April 2009

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Green ICT: Green ICT is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. Ontology in Green ICT: A formal representation of information and knowledge in the Green ICT domain and its inter- and intra-relationships. Green Information Portal: an electronic repository of data, information and knowledge relating to Green ICT made available on the Internet Crowdsourcing in Sustainability: using the spare time of large number of everyday people to generate carbon-related content, organize it, investigate on it and report it. Green Information Overload: excessive amount of carbon related data, particularly that is incoherent and does not provide corporate sense.

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Chapter 9

A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework Graeme Philipson Connection Research, Australia

ABSTRACT Most user organizations are implementing Green ICT to some extent. Some have adopted a deliberate policy, others are implementing it piecemeal as their ICT systems evolve. But many of them have not properly defined Green ICT, which means they cannot properly identify which areas to address. A comprehensive and practical Green ICT framework helps overcome this problem. Such a Green ICT framework can also provide metrics and measurements to guide its progress and ascertain its success. Measurement is important, because it enables benchmarking and comparisons, by quantifying the degree of implementation of Green ICT. User organizations can then be compared to each other, or to themselves over time, to determine the extent and effectiveness of their Green ICT strategies. A Green ICT framework can also enable different industry sectors and even nations to be compared.This chapter outlines a research-based yet highly practical Green ICT framework. My organization, Envirability has developed this framework in conjunction with RMIT University. It is based on a 4 x 5 matrix with four vertical “pillars”: Lifecycle, End User IT, Enterprise and Data Center IT, and IT as a Low-Carbon Enabler. Each pillar lends itself to a five-level Capability Maturity Model metric which can be based on a detailed survey of the organization’s policies and practices in each area. The five horizontal dimensions, or “actions” are applied across the four pillars: Attitude, Policies, Practices, Technologies and Metrics This chapter presents the framework and also outlines an approach to applying the framework to an organization to measure its Green ICT maturity by benchmarking its Green ICT activities. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch009

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework

INTRODUCTION This chapter outlines a research-based yet highly practical Green ICT framework. My organization, Envirability has developed this framework in conjunction with RMIT University. It is based on a 4 x 5 matrix with four vertical “pillars”: Lifecycle, End User IT, Enterprise and Data Center IT, and IT as a Low-Carbon Enabler. These pillars break down further into smaller, manageable elements that can be applied. Lifecycle, for example, comprise the three components of Procurement, Recycle and Reuse, and Disposal. Across these four pillars are five “actions”: Attitude, Policy, Behavior, Technology and Metrics. Such comprehensive framework, I believe, is vital to the application of Green ICT. This is so because Green ICT – sometimes called Green ICT – is heavily debated, discussed and analyzed, but there is little agreement on how it should be defined. Once Green ICT is broken into its constituent components, it becomes possible to measure each component, using the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), a standardized way of quantifying the maturity of a process. These metrics are important for Green ICT because, as the old saying goes, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. We can take this further and say that you can’t measure what you can’t define. The metrics and measurements discussed in this chapter can be turned into a series of indices, which then allow organizations to be compared to each other, and to themselves over time. This chapter explains the Green ICT framework we have developed, briefly examining each of its components. It also looks at the measurement – or benchmarking – process Envirability has developed to help organizations measure where they are in each aspect of their Green ICT process. The benchmarks are aligned with the Green ICT framework, allowing a granular approach to measuring Green ICT maturity. Such approach is a practical way of approaching Green ICT and lends itself to

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configuration in corresponding Carbon Emission Software Management (CEMS) tools (see a later chapter which I have co-authored). Green ICT is often considered to be only about reducing the energy consumption and carbon footprint of the ICT function within the organization. ICT is a significant consumer of electricity worldwide, on a par with the airline industry. Therefore it makes sense, as emission reduction becomes desirable and even mandatory, that ICT users should look at ways of reducing the energy consumption of their systems. Yet there is more to Green ICT than merely reducing the emissions from ICT devices within the organization. The “low hanging fruit” approach (ACS, 2009), which focuses on basic elements such as “switching off unused computers” is necessary but not sufficient to bring about a substantial reduction in the overall carbon footprint of an organization. That is why Green ICT in its entirety, as discussed here, is becoming an increasingly important issue. Green ICT goes beyond the ICT function and the ICT department – in many ways ICT, and Green ICT, is a central enabling technology to many aspects of sustainability. In very many cases ICT provides the measurement tool, the data repository, the reporting mechanism and the mitigation techniques that make sustainability possible.

WHY IS GREEN ICT IMPORTANT? Green ICT is becoming an important issue for many reasons that directly affect organizations. This influence is not merely limited to being a good corporate citizen. Green ICT has the potential to positively influence the organization’s bottom line. Consider, for example, the cost of data center power. These power expenses are soaring as electricity prices go up and new server technologies pack more and more processors, which consume more and more power, into less and

A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework

less space (Koomey, 2007). Data centers form an integral and vital part of an organization’s overall strategy for reducing carbon emissions. DeCoufle (2010) discusses in detail the importance of the green grid as a glue holding data centre energy efficiency together. A separate dedicated track on Green ICT at the a recent conference on Data Centre management (http://www.dcgtasia.com also focused on the emissions of a data centre. Reducing the carbon emissions of a data center has the same positive value as reducing the operating expense of that data center. Therefore, the importance of Green ICT permeates all aspects of the organization. Data centers use a number of different techniques to cool their servers. Water cooling is making a comeback to handle the heat dissipation issues (Cronin, 2008). Similarly, different techniques of air cooling servers, using the concepts of hot-aisle and cold-aisle (i.e. making the servers face different directions to maximize cooling) and so on are being used. These techniques are becoming far more important because they not only reduce the carbon footprint of the organization but, at the same time, improve its economic performance by reducing running costs of power consumption. Furthermore, reporting requirements are becoming increasingly stringent and there is an increased awareness across business and society of the un-sustainability of many current consumption patterns (Philipson et.al, 2009). Based on the above discussion, data centre servers need to be considered in the context of not just there current costs, but their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This concept of Total Cost of Ownership for ICT equipment was popularized in the 1990s by research consultancy Gartner (Kirwin, 1987). TCO, as its name suggests, is based on the full cost of equipment over its entire life, not just the purchase price. It takes into account running costs, maintenance, upgrades, etc. For PCs, Gartner has computed that the TCO over the life of a PC could exceed the original purchase price by a factor of three or more.

Until recently many TCO computations have not taken into account the costs of the power to run the ICT equipment. That is because power costs have been comparatively low, and because ICT departments and users are rarely billed separately for the electricity they consume and have no visibility of it (Philipson, 2009). However, TCO based calculations are now more important as we consider the costs associated with equipments in terms of the carbon they generate. These changing calculations of TCO incorporate electricity costs that can be budgeted with improved metering capabilities. Since the power consumption of data centres is rising, so is the heat generated by data centre processors - which also means greater effort at cooling. This rise in both power bills and power usage means that the power consumption of the ICT process is becoming much more noticeable. Even if organizations are unable to directly measure their ICT power consumption, they are often aware that it is too high and should be lowered if possible (Philipson, 2009). There are many well-documented ways of reducing ICT’s power consumption, such as server and storage virtualization and consolidation, “Green PCs”, thin clients, etc. The disciplines, technologies and methodologies are reasonably well known, but not so widely discussed is ICT’s enabling effect – its ability to reduce an organization’s carbon footprint by facilitating more efficient and less carbon-intensive work practices – teleconferencing instead of flying or commuting, improved supply chain management, the use of ICT systems to replace carbon-intensive applications, ICT-enabled energy reduction systems, smart metering, etc. This aspect of ICT as a low-carbon enabler is an important component of the Green ICT framework. It is not enough simply to reduce ICT’s carbon footprint – to make a real difference, ICT must be harnessed to greater purposes.

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THE GREEN ICT FRAMEWORK

EQUIPMENT LIFECYCLE

The Envirability-RMIT Green ICT framework is shown in Figure 1. This Green ICT framework takes a holistic view of Green ICT and sustainability, across the enterprise, and then drills into individual technologies and business best practices. As shown in Figure 1, the framework contains four vertical components, or “pillars”, each of which is broken further into specific areas of Green ICT; and five horizontal components, or “actions” which describe separate approaches to the verticals. The pillars are based on the different functional components of Green ICT, while the actions are based on the G-readiness drivers described by RMIT University (Molla et al, 2008). This Green ICT framework is used by many organizations to categorize the many aspects of Green ICT. It is also used extensively by Envirability and its business partners to conduct surveys into Green ICT usage patterns and in conducting Green ICT benchmarking (Philipson, 2010). RMIT University uses a modified version for its own research purposes.

This pillar covers the acquisition and procurement of ICT equipment, and disposal or recycling at the end of its lifecycle in an environmentally responsible fashion. ICT equipment, like all other equipment, passes through a lifecycle. It is manufactured, sold (and for every sale there is a purchase), used and often reused, and then ultimately disposed of. That disposal may mean it is discarded or destroyed, but it may also be sold or given to another person or organization, where it has another lifecycle contained within its larger lifecycle.

Procurement Procurement is arguably the most important aspect of green ICT in terms of making an overall impact on sustainability. At least as much energy is spent in manufacturing a PC as it consumes in its lifetime (Williams, 2004). There are two aspects to green procurement – the nature of the equipment itself, and the nature of the suppliers of that equipment. The equip-

Figure 1. The Envirability-RMIT Green ICT framework (Source Envirability; Reused with Permission)

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ment an organization purchases may comply with environmental standards such as Energy Star and the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) –see www.epeat.net. However, consideration should also be given to the suppliers’ own green strategies and carbon footprint. This includes such things as the supplier’s environmental values in the design and manufacture of equipment and how it measures them, its compliance with relevant environmental laws and codes of practice, and whether the supplier reclaims and recycles old equipment from customers. Organizations are increasingly developing policies for measuring the environmental performance of their ICT suppliers (Philipson, 2009). The degree of energy efficiency, product life-cycle emissions and the level of waste associated with any procured equipment are becoming important purchasing factors. In addition to the usual criteria of price, performance and service levels, tenders and requests for proposals (RFPs) are also often evaluating suppliers on their environmental credentials and asking for details of their own green practices and policies. To reduce waste, some organizations will only buy from suppliers that will deliver their equipment, unpack and take the packaging away with them.

Recycle and Reuse All organizations replace their ICT equipment periodically. Some have regular refresh cycles, some wait till they have to, some utilize some sort of continuous update process (especially with software). This is a natural aspect of the ICT function. But many organizations replace equipment too early, often through a fear of not being able to run the latest versions of software. This can create unnecessary waste and expenditure as few organizations always need the latest versions of hardware and software to function adequately. Even when it is time for a system upgrade, it may not be necessary for the whole enterprise.

Areas of the organization that really do need new equipment may be able to pass on their old equipment to other parts of the organization, perhaps those with less mission critical activities. Any equipment that conforms to the organization’s hardware standards, and that can run a version of software the vendor still supports, is potentially redeployable. Staff turnover and redeployment also provides an opportunity to look at redeploying equipment, especially when roles are not being refilled.

Disposal of ICT Systems No matter how far an organization can extend the useful life of equipment, or how much retired equipment it can sell or reuse, there will always be some that it will need to be physically disposed of. Environmentally sound disposal practices predate the concept of Green ICT, as many organizations have been conscious for some time of the importance of reducing environmental damage from e-waste (electronic waste). In recent years e-waste has become big business. A whole industry has grown up around the disposal of ICT and other electronic equipment, often based on the extraction of precious metals from printed circuit boards and other components. In many jurisdictions e-waste laws have been enacted, making the environmentally friendly disposal of e-waste mandatory. See http://ewasteguide.info

END USER COMPUTING End User Computing is that part of the ICT process which the end user controls. There are four areas – personal computing (desktop), personal computing (mobile), departmental computing, and printing and consumables. For each of these there are a range of different technologies and techniques that can reduce the organization’s power consumption and carbon footprint. End

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User Computing is especially important because, as the only part of ICT that exists outside of the specialized ICT function, it has the greatest effect on the wider green attitudes and behavior of the organization’s workforce.

Personal Computing Personal computing is divided into two parts: •

•

Desktop Computing: Important on all sizes of organization. In smaller organizations it is important because it represents the main areas of Green ICT, and in larger organizations the sheer numbers of end users mean that efficiencies in this area can make an enormous difference to energy consumption. Important practices include turning PCs off and various PC power management techniques, and important technologies include thin client computing. Mobile Computing: An increasing number of end users of corporate ICT systems are no longer tethered to their desktops. They work in cafes, in client offices, on public transport and at home. Many of them use laptop computers, which have similar power management issues to desktop computers. But many of them also use an array of other mobile devices, such as netbook computers, smart phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants). These devices do not in themselves use a large amount of power, but there are still a number of Green ICT considerations that need to be taken into account with their usage.

in scale to what might be described as enterprise computing in smaller organizations. The issues that apply are a mix of these that apply to personal computing (see above) and to enterprise computing (see below). Departmental computing systems typically comprise of servers, storage devices and peripherals that are not housed in data centers. They are often of a significant size, and often very inefficient in both their usage of energy and their usage of resources. They are a prime target for energy reduction.

Printing and Consumables Printing is a significant consumer of resources in the ICT function. There are a number of factors, of which the actual power consumption of printers is just one. Printers are very inefficient users of energy. They are usually left on, and consume significant amounts of energy even when idle. But there are many other factors which, while they do not directly affect the organization’s power consumption, have a significant effect on the environment. Printers use material, known in the ICT industry as consumables: paper and toner or ink. These can cause major environmental problems, both in their production and their disposal. And printers themselves are environmentally unfriendly devices – they are bulky, they are built from materials that are difficult to recycle or even toxic, and they require more maintenance than most other devices – mainly because they have so many moving parts.

Departmental Computing

ENTERPRISE COMPUTING

In many organizations, particularly larger ones, there is a significant amount of computing that takes place in end user departments away from the control of the ICT department. Some of this computing activity can be quite substantial, equal

Enterprise Computing is that part of the ICT function controlled directly by the ICT department – typically the data center, networking, software development and outsourcing. In organizations large enough to have a data center, the effective

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management of the equipment within it and its environment can be one of the most important aspects of Green ICT.

•

Data Center ICT Equipment The two most important types of ICT equipment in the data center include servers (including mainframes) and storage devices. Servers are usually the biggest consumers of power, and that power consumption continues to rise as more powerful processors are used inside them, and as the number of servers proliferates (Kooney, 2007). The average power consumption of a rack of servers has increased fivefold over the last ten years (Gantz, 2009) when cooling requirements are taken into account. Storage usage is also increasing exponentially – and as prices drop storage devices are often used very inefficiently. Server and storage virtualisation has become one of the key technologies in data centers in recent years. It is often touted as a technology for reducing power consumption, because it reduces the overall number of devices, but in practice most data centers’ power consumption continues to rise because the devices are becoming more powerful and use more electricity.

Data Center Environmentals Data centre and its servers were specifically discussed earlier on. Quite apart from the ICT equipment in the data center, there is the issue of the data center itself. The data center’s non-ICT infrastructure can quite easily (and most often does) consume more power than the ICT equipment within it. There are three main aspects: •

The power supply. Data centers usually have dedicated power supplies, and very often more than one. Their efficiency varies enormously. Data centers can also generate their own power, and backup power supplies are common for business continuity.

•

Cooling and lighting. Modern ICT equipment typically demands significant amounts of cooling, either air cooling or water cooling. There are many design and implementation issues that affect power consumption. Lighting is also a factor. The building that houses the data center. This may be a dedicated stand-alone facility, or it may be purpose-built within a larger facility, or it may be retrofitted into existing premises. Whatever the case, there are a number of aspects of the built environment that will have an effect on power consumption, such as insulation.

Networking and Communications Communications – the “C” in ICT - plays a significant role in modern ICT. There are a number of green issues specifically to do with communications. These include: •

•

•

Local Area Networking – many organizations’ LANs and data center networks consist largely of an untidy collection of cables that consume large amounts of power and which add to cooling requirements. More efficient cabling design means lower power consumption. Wide Area Networking – many organizations use leased data lines or VPNs (virtual private networks) over the Internet. While they do not have direct control over these networks, their inefficient usage adds to overall power consumption and increases the overall carbon footprint. Wireless communication – wireless will never wholly replace cabling, but it is becoming more widely used and it does have a major role to play. But wireless communications can be very inefficient, especially when transmitters and receivers are left on when they are not being used.

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Outsourcing and Cloud Computing Outsourcing has been one of the big issues in ICT since the industry began, with computer bureaux, in the 1950s. The issues have evolved as the technology has evolved. Ultimately, all outsourcing is a make vs. buy decision. Is it more effective to make or do something yourself, or have someone else build it or do it for you? The equation keeps changing, depending on a number of factors. In ICT, outsourcing discussions have traditionally centered around the issues of cost and capability. The cost argument usually runs along the lines of the outsourcer having economies of scale that are unavailable in-house, and the capability argument along the lines that the requisite skills are not available in-house. The rise of sustainability as an issue has added a new dimension to the ICT outsourcing debate (Philipson, 2010). Many facilities management companies are now highlighting their green credentials and building energy-efficient data centers that they say will enable users to lower their overall carbon footprint. That may well be the case, but the traditional make versus buy arguments still hold. One key issue with outsourcing, and one that is overlooked surprisingly often, is that of measurement. It is impossible to tell if outsourcing is a good deal or not financially if you don’t know the real cost of what is being outsourced. Similarly, you can’t tell if an outsourcer is going to reduce your carbon footprint if you don’t know what it is to start with. A recent complication to the outsourcing debate is the emergence of cloud computing, where processing takes place in the “cloud” – somewhere on the Internet far from the user. Cloud computing is not necessarily outsourced, but it very often is – making the debate even more complex.

Software Architecture Computer systems consist of software running on hardware. Indeed, it is often argued that the

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software is the system, and that the hardware is simply an enabling technology. Most discussion about Green ICT refer to hardware, but software is also a factor. The software architecture often determines the hardware architecture, which in turn may have a significant effect on the amount or type of hardware used – with all the consequences of the energy consumption of those systems. The way software is developed and used is significant – code can be efficient, or it can be “bloatware”. Systems can be developed from scratch, adapted or borrowed (with “objects”) from other software, or purchased off-the-shelf. Each approach has consequences for energy consumption.

ICT AS A LOW-CARBON ENABLER It is generally agreed that ICT is responsible for around 2 percent of the world’s carbon emissions – mainly through the usage of electricity to run the hardware, much of which comes from carbon-emitting power stations. That means that even if the carbon footprint of the entire world’s ICT function was halved, overall emissions would fall by only 1 percent. The real potential benefits of Green ICT are in using ICT as an enabling technology to help the organization, and the wider community, reduce its carbon emissions. That is covered by the fourth pillar of the framework.

Governance and Compliance Many organizations nowadays are conscious of the desirability of being a good corporate citizen. Increasingly, that means acting in a green and sustainable manner. Publicity about climate change and related issues has greatly raised the profile of sustainability, and virtually all organizations are attempting to boost their green credentials. In some cases they do it because they are forced to, in some cases it is a case of “greenwash” or paying only lip service to environmental matters.

A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework

But in many cases the organization’s management sincerely wants to do the right thing. “Corporate Governance” is a term that has come into common use in the last decade to describe the processes by which organizations ensure that they are properly managed, not only in terms of meeting their regulatory obligations, but to ensure that they do the right things by all their “stakeholders”. This over-used term typically includes management, shareholders and staff, and is often extended to include business partners and others in the organization’s extended supply chain. There is now an increased awareness that, when it comes to the environment, everybody is a stakeholder, and that good corporate governance also includes good environmental management. Green ICT is in many ways a management and governance issue. ICT governance refers to the practices and methodologies that ensure that ICT is managed properly (see the IT Governance Institute – www.itgi.org), and corporate governance refers to the practices and methodologies that ensure that the corporation is managed properly (www.corpgov.net).

Teleworking and Collaboration The term “teleworking” covers a range of technologies and practices that have to do with working at a distance or working remotely (see www.telework. gov). The carbon reduction benefits of teleworking are mostly related to removing the necessity of personal travel – if people don’t have to drive a car or catch a plane to do their work, they are reducing their carbon footprint by the amount of fuel generated by that travel. Varieties of teleworking include telecommuting, teleconferencing and videoconferencing, and telepresence (a form of high-resolution videoconferencing). Collaboration tools and techniques enhance the capability of a group of people to work together (Zara, 2004). There are a great many ways to do this, but all of them entail being able to share documents an processes and information, making

their business processes more efficient (see below) and reducing the need for physical contact. In that sense, collaboration is a teleworking, with all the benefits of that process

Business Process Management Business Process Management (BPM) is the process of improving the ways an organization or an individual does things – making them more efficient, with fewer steps or greater effect.. The term is used in both a specific and a general sense. The specific sense refers to a management discipline called BPM, which typically identifies five phases: Design, Modeling, Execution, Monitoring and Optimization. In the general sense, BPM refers to the overall process of managing and improving business processes. ICT has a major role to play in improving most business processes. It provides both the tools for modeling the processes and many of the enabling technologies for execution. This can be done both with business processes in the broadest sense, and through and with the use of specific business applications (see below).

Business Applications Most organizations run a number of ICT-based business applications. The range varies greatly depending on the industry sector, but typical applications include Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Many organizations also run more specialized or even custom applications specific to their industry, or to provide them with competitive advantage. ICT is very important in each of these applications, which are essentially specialized business process management exercises. Managers seek greater efficiencies in every phase of every process. The fewer times and the shorter distance physical items have to be moved, the better. The

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fewer transactions that need to be made, the better. Very small improvements can have a significant effect, because of the scale of the operation and because of flow-on effects further up (or down) the supply chain. Green ICT has a very important role in improving the efficiency of many industrial and commercial processes specific to individual industries, such as the manufacturing process, electricity distribution, and engineering and construction. Every industry has unique processes which can be made more efficient through the application of ICT – and efficiency means green.

ATTITUDE, POLICY, PRACTICE AND TECHNOLOGY

Carbon Emissions Management

Attitude

Carbon Emissions Management is an emerging discipline which focuses on the management – and ultimately the mitigation – of an organization’s carbon emissions. This includes the use of ICT systems specifically designed to reduce the carbon footprint, rather than doing so as a byproduct of greater efficiency. A key ICT application is Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS), which provide a compliant and consistent format for presenting greenhouse gas emission data to executive management and regulators (Philipson, Foster and Brand, 2009). As the carbon emissions regulatory framework continues to evolve, CEMS is becoming an increasingly popular tool to manage the carbon emissions lifecycle. The market will continue to mature and will most likely consolidate around major technology vendors and a smaller group of niche or vertical industry players, and CEMS products will become a functional component within many organizations’ application portfolio. Envirability has researched the CEMS market, and written a major report on the background to CEMS and how to select and implement a product. See www.cemsus.com

Attitude is an intangible thing. It describes how we think, rather than how we act. Most of all it is about attitude or culture. It is a necessary starting point: a desire to change is followed by a commitment to change, which is followed by actions, which is followed by measurement of the effectiveness of those actions. Having a positive attitude towards Green ICT is very important – it precedes everything else. And, as is often the case in business, those attitudes are most effective if they come from the top. “Management buy-in” is an essential part of any Green ICT program.

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The horizontal dimension, or “actions”, of the framework has five components. The first four are Attitude, Policy, Practice and Technology. These four are derived from RMIT University’s G-Readiness framework (Molla et al, 2008). RMIT University also uses a fifth, “governance”, which our framework includes in the fourth “enablement” pillar.” Each of these actions can be applied across each of the four pillars.

Policy There are many aspects to Green ICT policy. There are lots of things we can do in employing energyefficient technologies and making effective usage of existing technologies, and there are many ways we can reduce the energy consumption and/or the carbon footprint of the organization. Any effective enterprise-wide ICT energy reduction policy needs to be holistic, coherent, and properly managed and monitored. A policy development framework includes the establishment of policies, the communication of those policies, the enforcement of those policies, and

A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework

the measurement of policy effectiveness and mitigation strategies. A green ICT policy framework must be established to ensure green ICT becomes a businessendorsed program of work rather than a discreet IT project. It must take into account the required roles and responsibilities, skill-sets, commitments, targets, deliverables and methodologies used.

ICT principles into account as part of the normal equipment replacement cycle.

METRICS

Practice refers to techniques and behavior – things we do. There are many practices that individuals and organizations can adopt that directly help in the greening of the ICT function. And the great advantage of most of them is that they cost nothing – they do not involve the purchase of any new hardware or software, but simply the alteration of habits and mindsets. Very good examples are turning off PCs when not in use, recycling printer paper and printing less, and using IT equipment for longer rather than replacing it when it is still useful. The simplest things are often the most effective.

The fifth action is Metrics. It is also applied across the four pillars, but it is approached differently to the other four. “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”, says the old business maxim. An effective Green ICT strategy should clearly identify reduction targets and measures in such areas as achieving energy savings, reducing carbon emissions, improving recycling efforts and conserving water. Choosing the right tools to measure, monitor, manage and potentially mitigate power consumption and carbon emissions, both inside and outside the ICT department, is critical in ensuring that Green ICT projects have maximum business commitment and are successful over time. Only with adequate metrics can progress be determined. Envirability therefore identifies four phases (the “Four Ms”) of the metrics process:

Technology

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Practice

Some people think of Green ICT primarily in terms of technology – thin clients, virtualized servers, duplex printers. These are important, but they are ultimately just part of the picture. Too big a focus on technology means that people often concentrate on the purchase price of that technology, leading to a belief that Green ICT costs money, where the opposite is actually the case. The costs of new technology are such that very few people will buy a new piece of equipment simply because it is greener. The costs involved are often not worth the return, particularly when we take into account the waste inherent in disposing of the old equipment while it is still useful. By far the best way in most cases to approach the issue of Green ICT technology is to take Green

•

•

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Measure: The application of metrics to any aspect of the Green ICT process. A problem with this important first step is that in many cases metrics, or units of measurement, don’t exist. What should be measured, and what are the units? Monitor: Simply, continuous measurement. The ability to measure any process against itself over time to determine whether it is improving or not. Manage: Taking the results of the measurement and monitoring process and determining from that data what should be done to improve the process. Mitigate: Managing the process is such a way that a permanent improvement is made in the process, which usually means a change to the process.

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The next section describes and approach to Green ICT metrics undertaken by Envirability and used to benchmark an organization’s Green ICT maturity level.

MEASURING GREEN ICT The Envirability-RMIT Green ICT framework is a mature, tested and practical taxonomy which describes all aspects of Green ICT. The next step is to apply metrics to each aspect of the framework to measure an organization’s level of capability in that aspect. Envirability does this by use of a modified Capability Maturity Model (CMM) as shown in Figure 2. The concept of the CMM is often used in the IT industry to describe the level of implementation of various systems. First developed by Watts Humphrey at Carnegie Mellon University (Humphrey, 1988), a CMM defines five levels of maturity in the use of any system or technology (Figure 2): Applying the five-level CMM across each of the five aspects of Green ICT provides a useful framework for determining the maturity of an organization’s Green ICT strategy. This framework is the basis of Envirability’s Green ICT Readiness

Index (GrICTX) (Philipson, 2010). Envirability uses a common adaptation of the CMM, which adds an extra level – zero – to indicate no activity at all. Envirability determines the maturity levels through the administration of a survey which asks questions about each aspect of Green ICT, as identified in the framework. Questions are asked about actions (attitude, policy, practice, technology, metrics), for each of the four pillars. Each question is constructed to rate that factor on a CMM scale from 0 to 5, then all relevant questions in each of the four pillars are aggregated and weighted to deliver a score (out of 100) for that pillar. A similar process is followed for all the metrics questions, with metrics then being treated, for the purposes of analysis, as a fifth pillar. Envirability has administered this survey to over 300 organizations (Philipson, 2010), a sufficiently large base to develop average ratings for industry sectors and different sizes of organization. Taking the average ranking across each component provides an index, which can also be determined separately for each component, and compared by industry across each component. Each technology or methodology within each component can also be compared, providing a complete picture of

Figure 2. CMM Maturity Levels Applied to Green ICT (Source Envirability; Reused with Permission)

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Green ICT maturity, or “readiness” by industry sector and by size of organization. This methodology allows individual organizations to be compared to others of the size or from their industry sector – in other words, it allows them to be benchmarked. This benchmarking is applied across each of the four pillars of the framework, plus Metrics, allowing an individual organization to easily determine whether it is above or below average in its Green ICT maturity in each area. Further analysis, of the responses to individual questions in the survey, can then identify specific policies or technologies that might be implemented to improve the organization’s Green ICT maturity in that area. Figure 3, displaying charts of fictional company Acme Wholesaling, shows how this process works in action. Acme’s rating, based on its survey results, are determined by taking its CMM ratings for each question and categorizing them by the appropriate pillar of framework (plus Metrics). The overall result in each category is converted to a score out of 100. Acme’s results are then compared to the averages for all organizations in its industry (in this case Wholesale and Retail), and to the respondent base as a whole. The result is a simple, yet highly effective, Green ICT benchmarking tool.

Figure 3. Sample Green ICT Indices (Source Envirability; Reused with Permission)

FUTURE DIRECTION The Envirability-RMIT Green ICT framework is a work in progress. It has already evolved considerably since it was first developed (as a Pentagon by Connection Research/Envirabilty and as a hierarchy by RMIT University) in 2008. The framework will most likely evolve further in the future, though it has now reached a high degree of maturity and stability. Technologies evolve, and new approached sometimes become apparent. The concept – that of breaking Green ICT into its components and applying a taxonomy to those components – remains unique and has the potential

to provide value to this field in the future. This taxonomy is the result of considerable research and discussion, and has proved itself to be a robust and practical framework for understanding and analyzing Green ICT. This is particularly true when it is used as a benchmarking tool – the components of the framework have provided a structure that has made possible an effective way

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of measuring the maturity of an organization’s Green ICT implementation. Envirability is continuing to improve its benchmarking techniques. The survey upon which the benchmarking is based is continually changing, to incorporate such things as different regulatory environments in different jurisdictions, new technologies and practices, and better ways of measuring behavior and performance. Green ICT is not a destination, it is a journey.

CONCLUSION Green ICT is too often poorly defined. That is because it is a large and complex area that does not easily lend itself to a succinct definition. Unfortunately, this lack of definition often leads to confusion and disagreement over exactly what constitutes Green ICT, and confusion leads to inaction. Green ICT is often addressed only piecemeal, or not at all, because there is insufficient agreement on what it means. One way to avoid that problem is to define Green ICT in terms of a framework – a taxonomy that takes the many different components of Green ICT and relates them to each other. That methodology allows Green ICT to digested in bite-sized chunks, and allows for an easy and non-controversial appreciation of the many parts that make the whole. There are, however, very few such frameworks in existence. Envirability has proposed such a framework, and evolved it considerably after much discussion with academia, business partners and colleagues. The result, we believe, is a comprehensive and practical framework suitable for a number of applications. The Envirability-RMIT Green ICT framework has been used as a teaching aid, a measurement taxonomy, and a consultancy tool. This illustrates its practical uses, as well as its sound theoretical underpinnings.

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REFERENCES Cronin, D. (2008), Using Water Cooling in the Data Center Brings Challenges, Facilitiesnet, Feb 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008 from www.facilitiesnet.com/datacenters/article/Using-Water-Cooling-in-the-Data-Center-BringsChallenges--8227 DeCoufle, B. (2010), The glue holding Data Center Energy efficiency together - The Green Grid, http:// datacenterjournal.com/c ontent/view/3558/43/, accessed Tuesday, 09 February 2010 Gantz, J. (2009). The Diverse and Expanding Digital Universe. Framingham, MA, USA: IDC. http://www.dcgtasia.com/ index.php/dcgtasia/ sydney Humphrey, W. (1988). Characterizing the Software Process: a Maturity Framework [New York: IEEE.]. IEEE Software, (March): 1988. Kirwin, B. (1987). End-User Computing: Measuring and Managing Change. Gartner Group Strategic Analysis Report, Stamford CN. USA: Gartner. Koomey, J. G. (2007) Estimating Total Power Consumption by Servers in the U.S. and the World Stanford CA, USA. Retrieved 13 January 2010 from http://enterprise.amd.com/Downlo ads/ svrpwrusecompletefinal.pdf Molla, A., Cooper, V., Corbitt, B., Deng, H., Peszynski, K., Pittayachawan, S., & Teoh, S. Y. (2008) E-readiness to G-Readiness: Developing a Green Information Technology Readiness Framework. Australian Conference on Information Systems 2008 proceedings ACIS-0061-2008. R1. Melbourne, Australia: RMIT University. Philipson, G. (2009). Green ICT in Australia 2009. Sydney, Australia: Connection Research Green Paper.

A Comprehensive and Practical Green ICT Framework

Philipson, G. (2010). A Green ICT Framework. Sydney, Australia: Envirability. Philipson, G., Foster, P., & Brand, J. (2010) CEMS: A New Global Industry”, Sydney, Australia. Envirability. Also see chapter by the same authors in this handbook. Unhelkar, B., & Philipson, G. (2009) The Development and Application of a Green ICT Maturity Index - ACOSM2009 Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Software Measurements, Sydney, Australia: Australian Conference on Software Measurement. Williams, E. (2004). Energy Intensity of Computer Manufacturing - [Iowa City,IA: ACS Publications.]. Environmental Science & Technology, 8. www.epeat.net www.rmit.edu.au Zara, O. (2004) Le Management de l’Intelligence Collective. Paris, France. M2.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Benchmarking: A technique for quantifying, measuring and comparing the performance of an organization in a defined area. The comparison is typically made against other organizations of a

similar size or industry, or against a broader average. It is also useful for comparing an organizations performance to itself over time, to measure whether it is improving – or not. Green ICT: The use of technologies and techniques to lower (or reduce the rate of increase of) the power consumption or carbon footprint of the ICT function. In its broader sense, it also addresses the use of ICT as an enabling technology to help reduce power consumption or the carbon footprint outside of the ICT function. Green ICT Framework: A taxonomy that takes the many different components of Green ICT and relates them to each other. Green ICT Readiness Index: A Green ICT benchmarking and analysis tool developed by Envirability to allow the different aspects of an organization’s Green ICT implementation to be measured, and compared to other organizations, industry norms, or the one organization over time. Uses a modified Capability Maturity Model (CMM) to measure behaviors and actions. Taxonomy: A system of categorization. Often, but not always, hierarchical. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): A concept popularized in the 1990s by research consultancy Gartner, based on calculating the full cost of ICT equipment over its entire life, not just the purchase price. It takes into account running costs, maintenance, upgrades, etc.

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Chapter 10

Green ICT Organizational Implementations and Workplace Relationships Heemanshu Jain London School of Economics (LSE), UK

ABSTRACT This chapter discusses a Green IT implementation in an IT services company. Starting with a literature review on the current state of Green IT, this chapter develops the motivators for implementing a Green IT environment in an organization that is focused on services (as against products). While the data collection and analysis related to Green IT is limited in this research at its current stage, still the material discussed here follows a research approach. This discussion also contains invaluable suggestions on creation of green policies and procedures, their impact on people and processes and strategies for implementing them successfully.

INTRODUCTION This chapter investigates and reports on the impact of Green ICT organizational implementations on workplace relationships in organizations. This work is based on the analysis of a Green ICT implementation in an IT services company. This discussion is important, particularly in the context of ICT as, according to a Gartner report on climate change, ICT accounts for 2% of total Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by businesses. Furthermore, this figure is likely to double by 2015 if the use DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch010

of ICT keeps on growing unabated. (based on Mingay and Pamlin, 2008). Rapid technology advances have contributed to this situation in ways more than we anticipated and we now see adverse effects of GHG such as global warming, increased pollution levels, harmful effects to the environment and depleting natural resources. This has raised an alarm in the ICT industry worldwide and an increasing number of organizations are implementing measures in order to reduce their carbon footprints. Coupled with the self-awareness exhibited by many businesses, there are also pressures from governments, enforcement of legislations and

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mandatory regulatory compliances, customer demand for Green certifications and processes, competitor pressures of Green initiatives, Green marketing and branding, close inspection by various non-profit organizations, customer demands of transparency in production and other business processes, increasing demand of carbon emissions and audit reports by national and international bodies, rising energy costs and a growing need to effectively utilize ICT resources for cost optimization. These are some of the salient driving forces that have pushed organizations to implement Green ICT programs (Murugesan, 2008). This field is therefore receiving far more attention in recent times even amidst of an economic downturn as corporations invest into implementing Green infrastructure and practices to prepare themselves strategically for the future. However, even with this increasing number of implementations, we find that the field of Information Systems (IS) research has not given enough emphasis on understanding how these initiatives can be successfully implemented within an organization. The effectiveness of Green ICT implementations, its organizational impact and the validity of claims made by organizations on carbon savings remain a puzzle even when organizations are spending millions on these implementations. The discussion in this chapter, therefore, takes an interpretive lead by analyzing organizational Green ICT implementations in an ICT services company. The aim is to create an understanding of how Green ICT implementations have changed work practices and work place relationships in the organization and derives pointers to successful Green ICT implementations in organizations. This chapter is organized into following sections. The chapter starts with a literature review which demonstrates the importance of this research in practice. This literature review also provides current status of the industry with respect to the environment. A research question is then derived, which also presents a theory that was used to analyze the results. The subsequent sections detail

the research design and methodology that were used for the empirical study. The empirical results are discussed in the findings section followed by the analysis of the results using the theoretical framework. The research ends by presenting the limitations and scope of further research with a conclusion that suggests corrective action for practitioners.

REVIEW OF GREEN ICT LITERATURE As per Murugesan (2008), organizations have embraced Green ICT programs to cut ICT costs, utilize the ICT resources to their maximum, save on power bills and to save the environment from the ill effects of ICT usage. Thus, organizations are now actively looking for optimized ICT solutions that have a lower carbon footprint (Mingay and Pamlin, 2008). This phenomenon of organizational ICT change for the environment is growing across several wide ranging industries and geographical regions. For example, the airline industry is just as interested in reducing its ICT carbon footprint as the banking and the transportation industry is. A review of the literature shows that the field of Green ICT has been widely researched to understand the impacts on society and environment at large; the economic impacts of due to adverse climate change and the management models required within organizations to implement such initiatives. The specific organizational impact of these implementations have not been completely explored within the literature. With the green issues capturing attention of some IS researchers, some programs such as the Lowcarbonworks project at the University of Bath have started addressing the issues of technology adoption for a low carbon economy (Reason, 2009). Further room for exploration and adoption of Green ICT within organizations exists, particularly in relation to the impact of such adoption on the workplace.

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The Stern report on climate change is a notable contribution in understanding the adverse economic impacts of climate change following the increasing amount of Green House Gases (GHG) in the atmosphere (Stern, 2005). The report presents a strong co-relation between the environmental impact and the financial stability of business organizations across the globe. According to the report, “The benefits of strong, early action on climate change outweigh its costs.” If governments, organizations and individuals collectively failed to take corrective action or delayed action the impacts of adverse climate change would become irreparable. There is a strong urge therefore on the governments to use policy measures to enable a low carbon economy. Businesses have been recommended considering lowering their carbon footprint by actively investigating and investing into low carbon products and processes and individuals must utilize resources optimally such that their carbon impact on the environment is minimal. Several studies have shown the ill effects of ICT usage on the environment (Plepys, 2002; Erdmann, Hilty et al., 2004). These studies specifically demonstrate the first, second and third order impacts of ICT on environmental sustainability. While the first order impacts are associated with production, use and disposal of ICT hardware which have a direct impact on the environment, the second order impacts are caused by the changes in structure and behavior that their application. In the longer term this leads to the third order effect also known as the rebound effects. Rebound effects occur as resources are widely available and are used in excessive quantities to offset any savings that were claimed against a substitute (Plepys, 2002). The academic IS literature appears to be weak when it comes to investigating the environmental impacts of ICT on the organization as a workplace. Conversely, substantial amounts of literature on ICT and the environment from a technical prescriptive, showing how new technology implementa-

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tions can reduce ICT carbon footprints, exists. Technical solutions such as server virtualization, effective printing solutions, policies for switchingoff unused machines, tutorials for procurement of energy efficient devices and effective electronic disposal have been sufficiently discussed in several reports produced for Green ICT implementation (Radermacher, Riekert et al. 1994; Forseback, 2000; Hopper and Rice 2008; Mines, 2008; James and Hopkinson, 2009). These reports, however, appear to be technologically deterministic. They assume that the challenge of reducing organizational impact of ICT can be solved using the prescribed technical solutions. These studies appear to ignore the social and organizational contexts of Green ICT organizational implementations. The problem of Green ICT implementations in organizations however requires a broader and more comprehensive perspective that goes beyond the mere technology of adoption (Erdmann, Hilty et al., 2004; Unhelkar and Dickens, 2008). Some researchers have taken a holistic perspective and have discussed the problem of Green ICT implementation at different levels considering that the barriers to a low carbon future are not essentially technological (Erdmann, Hilty et al., 2004; Gearty 2008; Unhelkar and Dickens, 2008; Reason, 2009). At the domestic level, Noorjte Marres takes a socialist approach to describing how publicity of living experiments with low carbon technologies in domestic households has failed to involve citizens to move towards a low carbon economy (Marres, 2008). The discussion thus far brings us to an understanding that organizational Green ICT implementations are not just software or hardware implementations. Activities such as engaging key stakeholders, conducting energy audits, setting internal targets for carbon reduction, development and implementation of green ICT policies, encouragement of workforce to follow green strategies, regular monitoring and marketing of green initiatives internally and externally are equally

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important to successfully implement Green ICT in an organization (Murugesan, 2008). An organization needs to adopt an overall environmentally responsible business strategy (Unhelkar and Trivedi, 2009) to support its Green ICT projects Several management models such as the ERBS as shown in Figure 1 (Unhelkar and Dickens, 2008, Unhelkar and Trivedi, 2009), GITAM (Molla, 2008) and a Procedural Model towards Sustainable Information Systems Management (Schmidt, Erek et al., 2009) have been proposed to enable organizations to implement Green ICT. However these models have not been sufficiently validated or analyzed for their merits. Moreover, no model of Green ICT implementation can actually cover all aspects of effective organizational implementation and will continue to remain flawed (Reason, 2009). The implementation of any model depends substantially on the work place situation and context – which cannot be easily ascertained beforehand. The contribution of the Lowcarbonworks project at the University of Bath is quite remarkable in studying the relationship between the

macro trends – technological, economic, political and the micro factors – human aspects (Gearty, 2008; Reason, 2009). The study however focuses on the interplay between the macro and micro levels without analyzing the finer details of organizational Green ICT implementations.

RESEARCH QUESTION The barriers and enablers to significant ICT transformation need to be understood at both micro and macro levels (Reason, 2009). However, Green ICT implementations in organizations have not been sufficiently analyzed at the micro level of an organization which represents a gap in the current academic literature. Green ICT implementations in organizations appear simple in concept but when we approach the details, they can be quite complicated. Hence it is important to focus on studying these implementations at the organizational level. This research has seized this opportunity and has tried to make a contribution towards understanding how Green ICT practices are being implemented

Figure 1. Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy Framework (based on Unhelkar and Dickens, 2008; Unhelkar and Trivedi, 2009)

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in an organization – particularly how they are affecting regular work practices of individuals. Green ICT implementations represent an organizational change and hence it is important to know how the existing work practices in an organization are modified or how new work practices are being introduced in the organization to reduce the impact of organizational ICT implementations on the environment. Different stakeholders have different perspectives and vested interests (Unhelkar and Dickens, 2008; Reason, 2009) in an organization and it is important to maintain harmony amongst stakeholders to succeed in a changing practice. Therefore it is essential that an organization maintains healthy relationships within the organization for the success of its projects. Therefore our research question will be to understand: •

•

How changing work practices due to Green ICT implementations are influencing work place relationships? What are the impacts of changing work place relationships on the work practices in the organization and how does this impact the Green ICT vision in the organization?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK To understand the question in hand and pursue this research, Theory of Relational Practice has been considered as the most appropriate framework. In order to explain the use of this theory, the basics of Relational practice theory are presented first, followed by its importance in organizations, the reasons for its selection and the alternatives that were considered.

Theory Overview Relationships are commonly understood as emotional connections people have with one another. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck(1744-1829) in his ap-

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proach called Lamarckism showed how organisms live in a world that co-evolves continuously around them experiencing changes from within and outside their systems. In order to maintain equilibrium organisms exchange dialogues with their surroundings through connections. In social world these connections are nothing but relationships and are important for sustaining the society. According to Fletcher, (1998) and Fletcher,(1999), relationships are important part of our lives as it is not just about the connection that we make with each other, but it is a key part of getting the work done. There is a strong interrelationship between the ‘task dimension’ and ‘relational dimension’ and is critical to any collaborative problem solving (Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004). ‘Relational practice’ is defined as the involvement of people to do a particular kind of work (Fletcher, 1999). Bouwen and Taillieu gave a more elaborated definition in which they describe Relational practice as “an interdependent involvement of the stakeholders, the development of a shared problem definition, the coordination of the different actions on all levels and the orientation towards a shared common script and action strategy.”(Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004). In her research, Fletcher shows how shared ownership of task, open and direct communication, finding activities that are mutually rewarding and energizing and collaborative learning are the key elements of getting work done (Fletcher, 1998). While such actions of working with the stakeholders to bring a common consensus, getting people to commit to take action after negotiations seem to be task oriented, they are nothing but outcomes of relational practices exercised on projects (Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004). Relational practices are generally seen as ‘disappearing acts’ where the participants on a common task themselves find it hard to realize the importance of relationships even though these relationships played a crucial role to the success of the projects (Fletcher, 1999; Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004). Management science commonly

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refers to ‘good notions’, ‘effective leadership’ or ‘good people management’ as interpersonal skills within project teams. However relational practices largely remain unacknowledged and are treated as just ‘being nice’ or ‘getting along well’. This has been explained by Fletcher as the ‘disappearing dynamic’ – a taken for granted assumption that relationships are part of the private world of home and family and not the public world of workplaces. However this fallacy of disregarding relationships can be detrimental to the success of projects.

Importance of Relational Practice in Organizations Relational practices are crucial to an organization’s competence and transformation. In today’s fast paced, constantly changing environment, efficiency, quality, speed, flexibility and innovation constantly influence organizations. This results in a need to develop relational capacity. Qualities such as empathy, vulnerability, ability to experience and express emotion, ability to participate in the development of another person are crucial building blocks to the development of relational capabilities in an organization (Fletcher, 1999). In addition to these qualities, information exchange, shared construction of reality, empowerment and internalization as pillars to building strong relational practices in an organization (Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004). They indicate that these requirements cannot be met with the classical bureaucratic hierarchical design in an organization. A leader or the convener of the project plays a crucial role in building relational practices in an organization (Gray, 1989). A leader should facilitate ‘neutral’ distribution of power and leadership to cultivate these skills. Empowerment provides the opportunity for organizational members to use valued skills and abilities towards important goals, to gain self-confidence and to engage in co-ownership of projects. Failure to embrace relational practice in organization can lead to adversarial relationships

amongst stakeholders, less than satisfactory solutions and several unintended consequences. Negligence of problem definition involving multiple stakeholders where different parties have vested interests and there are differences in access to expertise and information can lead to unanticipated problems. (Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004) extend the relational practice theory to suggest that new interests and diverse parties may emerge in the social space as the outcome of impacted relational practices in an organization. These newly born actors can have positive as well as negative impacts. It’s a cyclic processs where “actors (re)-create meaning for each other (re-minding) and, at the same time, they (re)-create membership for each other (re-membering)”. They suggest that groups reinforce their identities as part of this framing and reframing process and thereby create a base for negotiation of their proper membership in the continuing project community. Absence of relational practices can lead to formation of distinct groups that have different viewpoints though being part of the same project. (Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004) describe these as ‘Intractable conflicts’ that can get stuck depending on the way different groups or individuals ‘frame’ or define the conflict issues (Lin and Silva, 2005). In this particular case the problematical aspect is on the relational side of the conflict context. The more the parties use identity frames to define their position in a conflict, the more difficult it gets to find a mutual beneficial outcome (Gray, 1989).

Reasons for Choosing Theory of Relational Practice The theory of Relational practice serves as a good base to study the relationships in an organization. Unlike other theories, the theory of Relational practice helps us study the ongoing loop on how changing organizational work practices can influence workplace relationships and how these relationships can affect work practices (Fletcher,

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1999; Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004). These inherent characteristics are favorable for the study. Moreover the theory has been sufficiently validated by numerous researchers in studying various fields such as management practices(Fletcher and Watson, 2007), education (McNamee, 2006), nursing(Game, 2008) and gender biases (Fletcher, 1998; Marshall, 1999). Fletcher’s theory suggests that organizational efficiency in getting tasks done is a function of its relational practices which plays an important role in understanding (a) the level of participation of different stakeholders, (b) the boundaries and limits of people’s authority and decision making scope (c) the level of openness and trust in an organization. These factors are important for our study and therefore are an excellent fit for the research subject.

Alternative Approaches Considered As an alternative theory approach, Stakeholders theory of Corporation (Donaldson and Preston, 1995) was considered for studying the research question before selection of the theory of relational practice. The stakeholders theory was an obvious choice as it gives a holistic perspective of different stakeholders and their perspectives in a Green ICT implementation and how they came together to form the management vision of Green ICT in an organization. However in order to fill the gap in the literature, it was important to focus on the micro level details how work practices and work place relationships changed due to Green ICT implementations in an organization. Also, the basic idea of the theory in enterprise decision making is “there is no prima-facie priority of the interests and benefits of one stakeholder over another” (Donaldson and Preston, 1995) which suggests that the reason for these implementations remains a separate issue. It hardly matters from an environmental perspective of what forces an

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organization to implement Green ICT (Murugesan, 2008) and hence this theory was rejected. Moreover the question at hand - to study the impact of Green implementations on workplace relationships is better understood by the studies of relational practices in an organization. The question is not to understand what factors have mobilized Green ICT implementations in organizations, but is to look at post implementation behavior of these implementations - to study changes in work practices that are affecting work place relationships within the organization. This convinced the researcher to use the theory of Relational Practice over Stakeholders Theory.

RESEARCH DESIGN Research Focus This research is focused on understanding the impact of Green ICT implementations on workplace relationships at the organizational level. The scope of the study is limited to within the organization only. Three different levels of relationships were studied during this research – relationship between manager - employee, employee - employee and customer - staff. Though an organization has its own environment and is an open system(Scott, 2001) the research did not focus on studying the interplay with other different organizations such as vendors, competitors, regulators or consultants. Taking a systems thinking perspective it was necessary to constrain the scope of this research and hence the study of influencing external forces and stakeholders that play a role in shaping an organization’s Green ICT work practices was eliminated and is out of scope of the current study. For that matter even relationships are studied inside the organization’s boundaries with an exception to the study of customer and staff relationships. This has been included because during the study it was found that some employees were working as support

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engineers at client locations and were acting as the face of customer for the parent organization. The study also did not actively studied different Green ICT technologies, options and their technical implementations found in the organization. However a high level overview was taken to understand the implementations. This research being subjective and interpretive in nature did not consider the study of any metrics and their appropriateness that are being claimed by the participating organization. This is out of scope for the current study.

Research Approach An interpretive design targeted at subjectively understanding the influence of Green ICT implementations on workplace relationships was used to extract knowledge gathered by means of qualitative data collection. This knowledge was used to interpret the meanings associated with the experiences of interviewees bringing up the reality (Orlikowski, 1991; Trauth, 1991; Galliers, 1993). Large amounts of empirical data were not collected and the use of mathematical or statistical models was avoided in order to capture the institutional and social context during the analysis. Heavy quantification using numbers and statistics is not suited for the subjected research and hence was not used. The core focus instead was collection of rich experiences of professionals about their working, their notions, their actions and participation in an organization actively implementing Green ICT practices.

Research Methodology Over a period of eight weeks, a case study was carried out at a leading ICT MNC listed on the NASDAQ. The organization will be referred to as ISoft Corporation for the sake of this discussion. ISoft Corporation is a global ICT services firm with expertise in hosted workforce management and office administration software services. ISoft Cor-

poration serves over 3,500 customer organizations which include several Fortune 500 companies. ISoft Corporation houses over 350 employees in its offices in US, UK, Canada and India. ISoft Corporation was not the only available choice for this research; the organization was selected after initial discussions with contacts in many organizations in ICT, Pharmaceuticals and Education domains implementing Green ICT practices. The selection was taken keeping in mind that the case matched the primary attributes (Yin, 1981; Trauth, 1991; Walsham, 1995) such as presence of an active Green ICT initiative within the organization; multiple projects on Green ICT practices, huge investments in Green ICT initiatives, the organization size, the global presence in various locations, availability of interviewees to actively participate in the research and huge scope for the organization itself to improve on its Green ICT practices. An ICT organization made a good choice because of high concentration of ICT tools and processes in daily work practices of the employees.

Data Collection For the purpose of data collection, the researcher used reflexive, iterative, semi-structured and open ended interviews with the designated focus groups of the case studies. The interviews were a mix of formal and informal meeting sessions which were conducted face-to-face or over the phone. The members of senior management including the CTO and Departmental Heads, ICT Managers and the Environment Manager, Team Managers and professionals within the organization were interviewed in four different phases of the research respectively. To effectively capture data, the findings of the previous phase were used in shaping the questions for the next phase. Care was taken to maintain anonymity of the interview participants’ responses while discussions with the participants of the subsequent phase. Wherever deemed necessary multiple interviews were conducted with

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interviewees to seek insight in greater depth or to collect additional information. All discussions were taken down as notes during the interview process as recorders could not be carried inside the organization’s premises. Emails were exchanged when further information was required from a participant after the interview process. Secondary data was extracted from the Green ICT policy documentation, the ICT budgeting reports, the Green ICT project program presentations, corporate presentations that were being used by the organization and a history of emails that were sent to employees regarding Green ICT initiatives in the organization. Since the organization is actively involved in Green ICT implementations some references were obtained from discussion notes and presentations by vendors and relevant articles. These documents were quite useful in structuring the interview questionnaire and tracking the development phase of these implementations over a period of time.

Data Analysis The analysis was carried out by juxtaposing the interview data collected from various interviewees against each other, the secondary data and understanding gleaned from the literature review. Conclusions were drawn by explanation building, argumentation against the theoretical lens and by comparing of findings and qualitative subjective interpretation (Trauth, 1991), hermeneutics and narratives (Lee, 1991). Any quantitative, statistical or mathematical models were avoided.

Validity The internal validity of the research was established by evaluating the findings and inferences against the background biases of the researcher (Appendix B). For establishing the external validity, interview questions were propagated from the findings of the previous interview phases and were checked with other interviewees at the same or

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different level. The available documentation was juxtaposed against the findings of the interviews and discrepancies noted and explored in detail to get a deeper and fair view of the situation.

RESEARCH FINDINGS Case History ISoft Corporation has been organized into four departments that specialize in their work activities for efficient management and client service. Each department is led by a departmental head who reports to the Executive Management Board of the company consisting of a CEO, CFO and CTO. Other directors may come in where relevant during operations (e.g. COO). Each department has several sub divisions within which are lead by senior managers who look at several smaller units within their sub division usually headed by a set of managers. Each manager leads different sizes of teams consisting of engineers/ professionals. Figure 2 shows the key departments in the organization and their sub divisions which will be referred in the analysis presented in this research document. ISoft Corporation is implementing multiple Green ICT projects and under a dedicated Green ICT programme. The Green ICT programme is headed by a committee of five key personnel including the CTO, the Departmental Head for ICT support, two ICT Services Managers and the environment Manager. Collectively they are responsible for implementation, facilitation, tracking, and maintenance of Green ICT projects within the organization. The Green ICT programme comprises of over ten big and small implementation projects, however for this research only five high impact Green ICT projects were being chosen. These five projects are run under the leadership of two ICT services managers who are members of the Green ICT program committee board. The projects

Green ICT Organizational Implementations and Workplace Relationships

Figure 2. Organizational Structure at ISoft Corporation

and their brief description have been presented in Table 1. Green ICT projects at ISoft Corporation include a mix of software implementations, hardware changes and policy changes. Software and hardware implementations have not been detailed in this document as they are quite technical in nature and are out of scope of this study. However, it is important to study the policy level changes that are being implemented at ISoft Corporation which will be helpful in understanding the impacts of these policy changes at ISoft Corporation. Table 2 summarizes the policy level changes as observed within ISoft Corporation’s Green ICT program.

Focus Groups To understand the research question at hand, it was necessary to study Green ICT implementations at ISoft Corporation at different levels of implementation. Hence the study was divided into separate focus groups and interviews were held with the key personnel on the Green ICT program as well as the users – the professionals working in the organization. The focus groups were divided into four major sections. The CTO and CFO were interviewed to seek the overall Green ICT strategy of the organization which represents Phase – I of the interview. The second phase comprised of the interviews with the ICT Departmental Head, Environment Manager and ICT services Managers who overlook the

Table 1. Brief description of key Green ICT projects at ISoft Corporation Green ICT Project

Brief Description

Server Virtualization

Installation of server software to scale server utilization based on requirements. This project aims at exploiting the server capacities to its maximum to enable efficient use of server computing power.

Green Printing Services

Implementation of printing policies across the organization. Active reporting and audit of print activities. Use of environment friendly paper and ink.

Electronic Waste Management

Refurbishing and rebuilding of existing computing devices. Effective electronic waste disposal when devices cannot be reused/refurbished.

Green Procurement

Purchase of low energy computers, printers, servers and other equipment which are Energy Star compliant, EPEAT certified or environment friendly.

PC Shutdown Management

Software implementation for auto shutdown of machines after working hours of an employee or 15 minutes of inactivity.

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implementation of the Green ICT program at ISoft Corporation. The Team and Sales managers who are act as line managers within the organization and represent the low level management within the organization were interviewed in Phase III and the employees including professionals within different departments like software engineers, HR professionals and customer care executives were interviewed individually to seek their responses in Phase IV. The interviews were carried out in the order of phases I, II, III and IV. This helped in moving from a macro to micro view of Green ICT implementations in the organization. The research was facilitated and supported by the Green ICT

program committee and they helped in arranging interviews with lower levels of interview participants as the research progressed. Due to high amount of support that was available in this case from the top management, they were always ready to help or interview again if required and hence a top down approach was chosen. Table 3 summarizes the details of interviews that were carried out with participants at different levels in the organization.

Interview Results The interview results have been classified into five subsections and extracts are included within this

Table 2. Overview of Green ICT policies at ISoft Corporation Green ICT Project

€€€€€Green Printing Services

Policy Description o Employees should not print more than 50 pages a day. o Employees printing over 50 pages a day will be featured in a daily printing report and will be reported to their respective line managers. o Employees who need to print more than 50 pages can seek approval from their line managers and request the ICT Helpdesk to print their documents instead of printing themselves. o All printing above 50 pages per employee per day is billed to the department/job functions irrespective if the printing has been done by the employee himself or by the ICT Helpdesk. o Any reports of employees printing over 50 pages a day will have to be suitably justified against a business requirement.

PC Shutdown Management

o All employees are required to fix their working hours with their managers and update ICT services helpdesk for planned shutdown of their machines after work hours. o Any changes in work hours must be communicated to the ICT services helpdesk at least 4 business hours in advance. o All machines that are inactive for over 15 minutes will be forced into sleep mode. o All machines that are inactive for over 60 minutes will be shutdown.

Electronic Waste Management

o All equipment before being retarded should be checked and attempts should be made to reuse. o If equipments/devices are functional but cannot be used within the organization due to technical/environmental reasons they should be donated to registered charities that can use them. o Any items that cannot be donated or reused must be disposed in a manner such that their environmental impact is the minimum.

€€€€€Green Procurement

o Any new procurement must be validated on its energy efficiency and carbon emissions against any other available options. o Sourcing of equipment should be done after careful understanding of purchase costs vs. energy efficiency. The decision can be taken at the discretion of sourcing manager. o All new procurements must be approved by the Green ICT program committee before being purchased. o Wherever possible all procurements must be Energy Star compliant or EPEAT certified.

€€€€€Others

o An employee will be given only one laptop or a desktop machine, not both. This is irrespective of employee’s position/role. o Any deviations from the above policies will need an approval from the Green ICT program committee which will be granted only after sufficient justification has been provided by the requesting employee’s line manager.

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Table 3. Details of interviews conducted at ISoft Corporation Focus Groups

Participants

Primary Role Implementer/User?

Number of Participants

Number of interviews

Hours spent

I

CTO

Implementer

1

1

0:40

I

CFO

Implementer

1

1

0:30

II

Departmental Head – ICT

Implementer

1

2

1:10

II

Environmental Manager

Implementer

1

2

1:30

II

ICT Services Managers

Implementer

2

3

2:05

III

Team Managers

User

2

2

1:55

III

Sales & Marketing Manager

User

1

1

0:40

IV

Software Engineers

User

3

3

2:45

IV

HR Executive

User

1

2

1:05

IV

Customer services Executives

User

2

2

1:10

15

19

13:40

Total

chapter to show the readiness of the organization towards the environmental change, the management support for these projects, the changes in work practices due to Green ICT implementation, the impacts of changing work practices and any new work practices or unanticipated consequences due to these implementations.

ENVIRONMENTAL READINESS The Executive Management Board showed their readiness for the big environmental challenge and firmly believed that sustainability was part of their core strategy. The management appeared quite focused and committed towards the environment and it was evident that they were actively investing into Green ICT projects. “Sustainability is a part of our core strategy. To sustain in business we cannot overlook our resource utilization and carbon emissions anymore. We understand our responsibility and have taken steps by actively creating an Environment program for the organization. We are committed to the en-

vironment and are taking active measures across the organization to reduce our carbon footprint by means of improving existing business processes.” -CTO, ISoft Corporation “We are aligning our ICT infrastructure strategically for the future.” - ICT Department Head, ISoft Corporation “We usually invest in ICT initiatives where the payback is less or equal to three years. Under the Green ICT program we found that some initiatives had payback times in the range of 5 years. We understand the importance of these investments and therefore we have created some exceptions in the past one year to fund Green ICT projects even with longer pay back periods. Given that, we do not invest recklessly into such projects but investments are being made after careful consideration. We are a public company and are liable to answer any questions raised by the shareholders of the organization for any investments or expenses we make. My financial team ensures that we squeeze

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the lemon as much as we can before we sanction any approvals for Green projects. This is beneficial for all – the company, the shareholders and the environment.” - CFO, ISoft Corporation Note that the middle level managers seemed to take a passive role in showing readiness for Green ICT projects. Although middle level managers strongly acted as policemen appointed by the senior management, they themselves saw the Green ICT audits as an overhead and had little involvement in working with the Green ICT team. They showed signs of haplessness and treated Green ICT projects as part of their duty rather than a measure towards a greener environment. “Audits are nothing but extra work for the same salary. We already have too much of work and the team sizes have reduced in the past few months, but not the work. I spend two hours every week just filling in reports of ICT utilization for my team.” - Team Manager (2), ISoft Corporation On questioning software engineer about his role in Green ICT project implementation the following response was received. “I shutdown my PC when I leave for home, what else?” - Software Engineer (3), ISoft Corporation This represents that the communication between the senior and lower levels was not happening in the organization or was rather ineffective. For the success of Green ICT projects it is important that all stakeholders in the organization understand the importance of Green ICT projects and have a common shared frame of vision. The senior management at ISoft Corporation deserves accolades in showing their readiness towards

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the environmental changes but most employees considered Green ICT projects as a cost cutting measure and the environmental readiness was not achieved at the lower levels. Success of Green ICT implementation largely depends on the participation from the lower levels.

Management Support The core members of the Green ICT program were interviewed to seek their opinion about these projects. They considered Green ICT implementations a big success and were quite happy with the support from the company’s management board. “I overlook the Environment program [at ISoft Corporation] closely.” -CTO, ISoft Corporation “We have proved that the Environment Team is no burden to the organization. We earn in terms of savings we make for the organization. Our role has been appreciated by the senior management and in the past one year the team size on Green ICT projects has increased three folds.” - Environment Manager, ISoft Corporation “I along with my project managers are working closely with the CTO and Environment Manager to implement Green ICT projects. We regularly report our progress to the management board and I must say – the support from the senior management has been brilliant so far!” -ICT Department Head, ISoft Corporation It was evident from the interview results that the senior management was actively facilitating and involved in Green ICT implementation at ISoft Corporation. They not only helped the implementation team with necessary resources but appreciated and extended a helping hand

Green ICT Organizational Implementations and Workplace Relationships

whenever required. This shows the strong relationships between the senior management and the implementers which were responsible for the success of Green ICT project. However, the same was not valid at the lower levels. Green ICT was more about doing things by the implementers themselves rather than encouraging participation in the organization from employees and other managers. “We are responsible to bring in new policies, audit processes, find appropriate solutions, and contribute to overall Greening of the organization.” -Environment Manager, ISoft Corporation Team work was evident in the top levels of the Green ICT program where the company’s management was giving full support to the implementers but there was no user involvement. There was no support from the management to understand or take the views of the participating employees or low level managers which could help the organization in effective Green ICT implementation which was evident from “We are supposed to act and not question.” -Software Engineer (2), ISoft Corporation

Changing Work Practices The organization was making exceptional progress in quickly implementing new technologies and introducing new policies to conserve the environment. These changes resulted into changes in business processes and daily work practices for employees. The following responses depict the fast nature of changing work practices at ISoft. “Our Green projects have been a great success. In over a year’s time we now have over ten projects running and the senior management is quite happy

with our progress. We have saved over 22% on our electricity consumption.” -ICT Department Head, ISoft Corporation “Early results are encouraging and in short span of just over 12 months we have over 10 Green ICT projects running. We are doing everything we can, looking at all possible alternatives and constantly upgrading our Green ICT program. We are driving the Green bandwagon on full throttle and are making huge investments in our infrastructure and processes.” -CTO, ISoft Corporation However the changes were imposed considering users as hindrances to the success of Green ICT programme at ISoft Corporation. The following statements from the Implementers show little or no concern for the participating employees. “Users are always going to resist change.” “Most users still don’t print on two sides of paper. We had to therefore implement a printing policy that constraints users to print over 50 pages a day. Though users can print more than 50 pages but their names feature on our daily print reports and they are required to submit an explanation for the same.” “The intelligent user knows how he/she should print. Single sided printing is counted as two pages. If a user prints on single side he/she can print only 25 pages under the permissible limit. It’s solely up to the user whether he/she wants to print on two sides or one side.” -ICT Services Manager (2), ISoft Corporation The organization believed in imposing strict policies to curtail ICT use in the organization

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which is evident from the following quotes from the implementers. “All excess printing is billed to the departments and this has really worked for us. We have seen a considerable drop in printing activities. We now know who the culprit is and we are accountable for our printing activities.” - ICT Department Head, ISoft Corporation The Green ICT program team was concerned about its own success in terms of achieving lower carbon footprint at any cost. A top-down bureaucratic approach was seen at ISoft Corporation. New work practices emerged as a result of Green ICT implementations and these were seen as an overhead by managers. The following response shows how managers were spending their time everyday on additional activities due to Green ICT implementations. “Every evening I am busy checking if any of my employees are going to stay back in the office and on most occasions they do. I have to then send requests to ICT Helpdesk not to shutdown their machines (just in case employees are collectively working later in a team meeting room) and have to make a note of this as this needs to be audited as part of my team’s ICT utilization report.” - Team Manager (2), ISoft Corporation The following response shows how managers found themselves in difficult situations owing to the new policy implementations. “I am sometimes slow in approving requests from my team members for extra printouts. I am often busy with meetings or traveling and send approvals only when I get back. On one occasion, I printed some documents for a team member from my own login as I could not approve his request

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on time and the ICT Helpdesk won’t accept any large documents for printout after 3pm” - Team Manager (1), ISoft Corporation The view of the organization changed due to ICT implementations, ICT skills which were considered to be an asset had now become a stopping stone towards the success of Green ICT projects which is detailed in the following response by the HR Executive. “When I joined this organization, I knew little about using computers as I came from manufacturing background. Over a period of years, I have received numerous ICT trainings. My performance has been linked to my learning and I thought I really did well in taking up courses sponsored by the organization to enhance my ICT knowledge. My ICT skills were an asset to the organization and now these skills have rewarded me with a warning from my manager due to excessive ICT resource utilization.” - HR Executive, ISoft Corporation Quick changes in work practices at ISoft Corporation had radically created an unhealthy environment within the organization. The top down approach of the Green ICT implementers and no involvement of users in policy decisions were detrimental to the overall health of the organization where employees experienced stress and were not motivated towards the Green ICT program.

Work Place Relationships Green ICT program had introduced a lot of stress in the organization. The following hapless view of the manager showed how they were forced to comply with the organization’s policies. This reconfirmed that their views were not solicited

Green ICT Organizational Implementations and Workplace Relationships

and their participation in the Green ICT program was limited to that of a passive user. “If there is only one jam packed train that can take you home, you don’t complain, you just board the train.” -Team Manager (2), ISoft Corporation

Manager: Employee Relationships The following example shows how the relationships between the manager and employee were strained due to Green ICT policy implementation. These policies were strengthening the barriers between the employees and managers which could be harmful not only to the success of the Green ICT programme but to the overall success of an organization. “I usually give some extra leverage to my best performing employees… but I can’t help it now if my best guys print more than 50 pages a day. I am answerable and hence I have to send them a warning email demanding written explanation.” -Team Manager(2), ISoft Corporation

Employee: Employee Relationships Interview with an HR Executive showed how his relationship with employees was getting affected due to Green ICT implementation and he could do nothing about it. “The green supplies of paper have been horrible. The printers print in ‘draft’ mode which results in poor quality of prints. Also the paper we are using is of inferior quality – its some Green recycled paper. I frequently hear the music from employees who leave the organization as their service certificates are printed on these poor quality sheets. Some documents like service certificates and relieving letters are really important

to employees and these are documents they wish to keep for life. I have tried convincing my boss regarding this but he has his green tints on. We would need a new laser printer and separate set of good quality sheets for this purpose and the ICT department won’t approve it. The volumes are too low to make it a strong case.” - HR Executive, ISoft Corporation

Customer: Staff Relationships The research even found evidence where relationships between customer and staff were strained due to improper Green ICT implementation as employees across organizations were not educated about the ongoing Green ICT program implementation and its benefits. “The new experiments with server virtualization have resulted in frequent downtime which is annoying for our customers.” “I have been in touch with the server management team and have spoken to them about the issues customers are facing but they say customers should comply – we are going green. I have tried convincing customers about it but they don’t know what Green ICT is.” - Customer Support Engineer (working at a client location) These relationship impacts can be lethal to the business continuity of an organization and need careful attention from the management. It was surprising to see that the HR department which plays the most important role in facilitating good work environment in an organization was itself bruised due to Green ICT implementations. The following confession of the HR Executive is of note:

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“I am from the HR department and our function is considered as a support function as we do not contribute directly to the revenues of the organization. My job requires me to print over 50 pages a day. I print joining letters, employment letters and even termination letters apart from the daily requests I receive from employees for some statements they need for their loan applications, or other personal use. I am required to print and hand over the necessary documents on requests. Soon after the Green printing policy was implemented, I saw myself in trouble. I was printing over 200 pages a day and the whole of HR department was doing that! We are a cost function and we were using the most resources and our names featured on the black lists! This was the truth and all of sudden the black eye of environmental manager was on us and we had a tough time convincing him that we are printing documents only when it is required. Every extra page [above the daily limit of 50 pages per employee per day] we print is billed to the HR department and I have received strict instructions from my boss to print as little as possible. We are actively cutting costs.” - HR Executive, ISoft Corporation Employees were scared of serious action if they did not comply to the Green ICT policies. In an interview with the software engineers it was found that green policies were enforced strictly in the organization and the overall environment of a financial downturn was adding to the misery of the employees. The threats to employees were reconfirmed after going through the history of emails that had been communicated across ISoft Corporation over the past one year. “Green Implementations are to save costs and I am expected to comply. If I don’t, I will create a bad impression.” “I have seen over 20 people being laid off from my team and I am scared to go and see my manager for any special requests.” 162

– Software Engineer (1), ISoft Corporation “We receive warning emails from the ICT and HR. We are threatened for action - the company is going Green?” – Software Engineer (2), ISoft Corporation

Unintended Consequences While the top management was quite happy with the success of the Green ICT programme at ISoft Corporation, the research showed that there were several unintended consequences which were never anticipated. These occurred because of poor management of Green ICT initiatives at ISoft Corporation. The ICT Department Head confessed that certain initiatives such as duplex printing in the organization has suffered issues for the past one year and these initiatives were not sustainable and had to be rolled back due to user resistance. “Printing policies have been an issue in our organization for over a year. We initially configured all printers to print on two sides of paper by default but we received far too many requests to revert these settings to single sided printing. We had to ultimately revert these settings back.” It was also evident that some decisions to lower carbon footprint were not carefully considered. “We receive very few requests for printing at the ICT Helpdesk. The number of such requests has been a single digit per day so far. We outsource these documents to a local printer for printing the very same day.” - ICT Department Head, ISoft Corporation The organization’s decision to outsource prints above 50 pages a day to the local printer did not consider the transportation cost and the carbon emissions involved in transport of docu-

Green ICT Organizational Implementations and Workplace Relationships

ments from the ISoft Corporation office to the local printer and back everyday. Also, this policy represented a threat to organization’s security as often confidential documents would move out of the organization to local printer’s premises for printing purposes. This action can also be referred to as ‘carbon outsourcing’ or ‘green washing’. ISoft Corporation was pushing the carbon footprint of excessive print jobs from its carbon balance sheet to that of the local printer’s. An irony featured from the interview with a team manager who confessed that his most performing team members were actually being accounted for higher carbon footprint in ISoft Corporation’s carbon audit reports. “My best resources work till late, solving issues we are stuck with. Unfortunately, they use more ICT resources than the ones who leave at 5.30 p.m. and their carbon footprints are bigger than the underperforming employees!” - Team Manager(2), ISoft Corporation Moreover these implementations also created discontent amongst certain group of employees as these implementations were affecting their regular work practices. “I am irritated with the PC shutdown software that has been installed. I am frequently in meetings and when I come back, I find my machine shutdown automatically. I waste 5 minutes to reboot. The new software has somehow made my computer even slower.” - Customer Services Representative, ISoft Corporation In a surprising disclosure from an employee it was even found that some employees were taking undue advantage of the Green ICT printing poli-

cies for their own benefit which was not known to the management. “At times, I print more than what I used to. I know for sure, I will never feature on the list till I print less than 50 pages a day.” – Software Engineer (2), ISoft Corporation Also, some employees had developed workarounds to counter Green ICT printing policies that were constraining them to print more than 50 pages a day. “I split the document and ask my team mates to print a few pages for me instead of going through the approval procedures.” – Software Engineer (3), ISoft Corporation

DISCUSSION Though this empirical study showed that management was committed towards Green ICT implementation and was actively investing into Green ICT projects; some serious flaws featured. It was evident that exceptional relational practices existed between the senior management and the Green ICT program members. These relational practices had empowered the implementation of over 10 Green ICT projects in a short span of a year. The management’s role in facilitating the implementers with resources and closely working with them shows evidence of how the management was preserving the relationships, mutually empowering the Green ICT program team and achieving results as a common goal and creating the team towards collectively targeting goals – the four parameters defined by Fletcher for effective relational practices in an organization (Fletcher, 1999; Marshall, 1999). However these four parameters were not visible at the lower levels owing to various problems like

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absence of feedback mechanisms, poor employee motivation, ineffective communication between the senior management and the employees, strong enforcement of policies with threats of action for non compliance. Changes in work practices in absence of effective relational practices had endangered the success of the Green ICT program as several unintended consequences had taken root. These unintended consequences raise a serious question about the success of Green ICT program as some employees were actually printing more than usual, splitting documents to circumvent policies and participating passively in the Green ICT program. Moreover the evidence of documents being printed outside the organizational boundaries shows how the organization had failed to understand the deep rooted issue of environmental impact for its printing activities. The study showed how relational practices continued to remain as the ‘disappearing act’ and how absence of relational practices at the lower levels has created ‘Intractable conflicts’ between the employees and the management (Fletcher, 1999; Bouwen and Taillieu, 2004). It becomes clear that the top down approach as adopted by the Green ICT program committee had negatively influenced the success of the project and introduced stress in the regular work practices of employees. These negative effects on work place relationships and unintended consequences posed a danger towards continuity of Green ICT work practices that were introduced. As observed with the duplex printing initiative at ISoft Corporation, work practices were forced to be changed because of user resistance which seeped in because of ineffective relational practices. Failure of projects within the Green ICT program would ultimately force the management to reconsider its Green ICT project implementations and therefore would have negative impacts on the vision of the Green ICT implementation which would then have to be redefined. In order to circumvent such situations from arising, organizations should however develop mechanisms to allow open and free communica-

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tion within the organization. Feedback mechanisms from employees can not only help the management in aligning their Green ICT policies effectively but can help as a motivation for active user engagement in Green ICT program. As Fletcher identified, mutual empowering and creating a team are important for any organization that wants to introduce change. Effective relational practices can be achieved when the management adopts a collaborative approach towards combating issues such as reducing ICT environmental impact. It is therefore advisable for organizations to involve representatives from different departments before a change is commission in an organization. Human Resources play an important role in enabling a culture in the organization. With active involvement of Human Resources, an organization can not only educate the users cultivating the importance of program such as Green ICT, but can create effective feedback channels enabling participation and suggestions from the lower levels. These mechanisms will help the organization in sustaining its work practices in the longer run and will help the management reinforce their vision of Green ICT in the organization. Figure 3 diagrammatically represents the findings from the case study which shows the existence of a loop between the vision of Green ICT which leads to organizational change in work practices and based on the effectiveness of relational practice management there are positive or negative impacts on work place relationships which can reinforce or redefine the management vision. This shows the importance of work place relationships and relational practices in the successful implementation of Green ICT in an organization.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS Primary limitations of the research arise from the time constraints; the large aggregation of data from the organization running over ten projects on the

Green ICT Organizational Implementations and Workplace Relationships

Green ICT program and the reflective qualitative process (Yin, 1981). The organization was medium in size and had little evidence of established standards of process maturity within the organization (like CMM certifications) which would have been desirable in order to ascertain if project implementation processes were following industry best practices and standards. Although sufficient measures were taken to eliminate any kind of biases and the research was carried on neutral grounds, the research might have suffered from the biases that were introduced due to the use of theory of relational practice. Moreover the researcher himself being a budding management researcher might have introduced his personal biases unknowingly. The huge breadth of the research and the constraints with time could have adversely affected the depth in which the issue was explored. The organization being a medium sized ICT organization does not necessarily project the picture of similar implementations in smaller or larger orga-

nizations in same or different domains. Moreover, further limitations are introduced as interviewees treated the researcher as a foreign agent trying to investigate the project implementations with support of the senior management. This might have refrained interviewees in providing accurate accounts due to political structure of the organization (Yin, 1981; Walsham, 2006). Any corrective action that has been suggested in this research poses a risk as solutions are dependent on the situation in which they are used (Galliers, 1993).

FURTHER RESEARCH While this research constrained itself to analyze workplace relationships within the organizational boundaries, further research can explore the bigger picture by considering an inter-organizational context. This research neglected analyzing the metrics that were used within the organization to calculate carbon footprints and savings that were

Figure 3. Loop between Management vision, changing work practices and relational practices in an organization

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made due to Green ICT implementations. These metrics need to be carefully analyzed which can help an organization to understand the effectiveness of its Green ICT projects. Moreover, these issues can also be studied as a comparison of management vision, implementation and motivations between organizations in the developed and the developing nations. Several other areas overlapping with Green ICT such as employee performance, organizational security and customer relationship management can be explored in detail. In addition to organizational Green ICT studies, there are avenues to study these implementations, their adoptions, barriers and effectiveness at the industry, domestic, regional, national and international levels.

CONCLUSION Green ICT Implementations can have profound impacts on the work place relationships if they are not carefully managed. These work place relationships are crucial for the success of the organization and its projects as these relationships can reinforce or redefine management vision of Green ICT. With governments increasingly enforcing certifications and compliances that organizations need to follow in order to sustain in the marketplace, pressure from customers and community and growing need for optimizing costs related to ICT operations the scale of Green ICT implementations in organizations is expected to see a rising curve. Organizations however will not just have to implement a few Green ICT projects but will have to continuously add new methods and ways to reduce their carbon footprint. In order to institutionalize and reinforce Green ICT practices, organizations need to adopt a long term strategy and need to invest into building an overall Green ICT implementation strategy which includes taking into consideration people and processes apart

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from the technologies. Organizational changes pertaining to implementation of new Green ICT policies will have to be carefully deployed and managed. Top down approaches of management will have to be replaced with collaborative work models, employees will have to be encouraged, awareness regarding the environment needs to be created which instills a sense of duty towards the environment and companies need to ensure that employees are equipped with necessary training and educational programs to aid successful implementations. Failure to do so may result in an overall shift in the management vision which is harmful for the business as well as the environment. The case study helped us showing that technologies and investments alone cannot help an organization in implementing effective Green ICT programs for a low carbon future. Despite investments and multiple projects being implemented the work practices were not sustainable and were instead strengthening the barriers between the managers – employees, employee – employees, and customer – staff. Green ICT implementations need careful management and cultivation of work culture in the organization. Feedback loops and open communication can boost the morale of the workforce and can circumvent any negative impacts occurring as we observed in the case study. Effective relational practices can help strengthening the relationships between managers – employees, employee – employees, and customer – staff which prepares the organization for future changes and makes the organizational more resilient and effective in handling organizational changes for the environment.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The data, interview results and the corresponding original research remains the intellectual property of the author who plan to extend this study eventually in to a doctoral level research.

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Gearty, M. (2008). Achieving Carbon Reduction: Learning from Stories of Vision, Chance and Determination. The Journal of Corporate Citizenship Issue(30). Gray, B. (1989). Collaborating. Finding common ground for multiparty problems. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

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Marres, N. (2008). The making of climate publics: Eco-homes as material devices of publicity. Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, 16, 27–46. Marshall, J. (1999). Living Life as Inquiry. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 12(2). doi:10.1023/A:1022421929640 McNamee, S. (2006). Relational Practices in Education: Teaching as conversation. Invitations: Applications of Postmodern Collaborative Therapy. Mines, C. (2008). The Dawn Of Green IT Services. Forrester Research. Mingay, S., & Pamlin, D. (2008). Assessment of Global Low-Carbon and Environmental Leadership in the ICT Sector, by Gartner and WWF. Gartner & WWF. Molla, A. (2008). GITAM: A Model for the Adoption of Green IT. 19th Australasian Conference on Information Systems.

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Green ICT: deals with people, processes and technologies relating to the environment Sustainability: capability of an organization to continue to sustain – remain in business – for a long time. Translates to the organization’s performance in terms of the environment. Climate Change: changes to weather patterns and carbon contents in the atmosphere as a result of business activities, Green Policy: a documented strategy of the organization in terms of its actions relating to the environment; includes need for and approach to compliance with regulations Workplace Relationships: in the context of this chapter, deals with the relationships amongst peers, those between leaders/managers and workers (occasionally through unions) and with the external parties such as business partners and regulatory bodies

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Chapter 11

Approaches and Initiatives to Green IT Strategy in Business Amit Goel RMIT University, Australia Amit Tiwary Utilities Industry, Australia Heinz Schmidt RMIT University, Australia

ABSTRACT Increasing resource consumption by business organizations is impacting the environment and resulting in changes to climatic patterns. The use of Information Technology (IT) and related systems are further contributing to sustainability issues and challenges within business. Hence it becomes imperative for enterprises to formulate their IT Strategies with green approaches in mind so as to reduce the environmental impact of their IT usage. This chapter discusses the issues and challenges in formulating such strategies with particular emphasis on architecture based approaches to green initiatives. A six step methodology for Green IT strategies for business is also recommended.

INTRODUCTION Information Technology (IT) is an integral part of business in current environment. Increasing use of IT contributes significantly to the challenges of carbon emissions control within business. This chapter discusses the strategies and approaches an organization can adopt in terms of its IT usage that will help reduce carbon emissions, and is based on the doctoral research conducted by the lead author. The objective of this chapter is to under-

stand the environmental issues and challenges in context of IT strategy and information systems. A review of relevant literature and discussion is followed by a six step methodology for Green IT strategies for business that also makes use of IT-based architectural approaches. Table 1 lists various approaches to green IT. This list provides a comprehensive range of green IT initiatives that are focused on a specific aspect of IT and its relation to business. Various IT Strategies and initiatives related to the environment are listed in Table 2. These initia-

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch011

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Approaches and Initiatives to Green IT Strategy in Business

Table 1. Approaches to Green IT Strategy Approach

Description

Data Center

Approaches focusing on optimizing the resource utilization in data centers (Aronson, 2008; Courses & Surveys, 2008; Forge, 2007; Patterson, Pratt, & Kumar, 2006; Przybyla & Pegah, 2007; Raghavendra, Ranganathan, Talwar, Wang, & Zhu, 2008; Sukinik, 2006).

Reuse, Refurbish and Recycle

Approaches focusing on reusing, recycling and refurbishing various components and equipments (Shevlin, 2008).

Tactical Incremental Approach

Approach focusing on incremental measures in IT Infrastructure (Murugesan, 2007).

Holistic Approach

Approach focusing on Green IT Policies in complete IT Lifecycle (Murugesan, 2008).

Architectural Approach

Approach focusing on making trade-offs and decisions at architectural level (Williams & Curtis, 2008)

Strategic Approach

Approach focusing on green strategic initiative as distinct from other strategic IT initiatives (Murugesan, 2007).

Deep Green Approach

Approach focusing on advanced green strategic initiative such as buying of carbon credits (Murugesan, 2007).

Total Sustainability Indicator Approach

Approach focusing on IT Architecture Framework with Sustainability View and Mathematical Modeling based on Game Theory (Goel, Tiwary, & Schmidt, 2010).

tives are a combination of government approaches and those undertaken by individual organizations. The discussion below sets the scene for understanding the environmental issues in the context of business.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the

ability of future generations to meet their needs (Brundtland, 1987). Environment is one of the three pillars of sustainability, the other two being community and economy (Viederman, 1996). The improper use of resources brings environmental degradation and climate change such as flooding, droughts and storms etc., apart from endangering the already scarce resources available. Climate change is not only an environmental issue but also a business issue, since it affects business and markets (Hoffman & Woody, 2008).

Table 2. Initiatives in Green IT Initiative

Run by

Started in year

Energy Star

US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy

1992

EPEAT – Electronic Product Environment Assessment Tool

Consortium of Private and Public Agencies

2006

RoHS – Restriction of Hazardous Substances regulations

European Union

2006

WEEE – Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations

European Union

2006

Green Grid

Global Consortium of IT Vendors

2007

CSCI – Climate Savers Computing Initiative

Consumers, business and conservations

2007

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Impacts on Business Sustainability has strategic impacts on business in aspects of production economies, cost competitiveness, investment decisions and asset valuation (Enkvist, Naucler, & Rosander, 2007). Macro level multilateral doctrines such as the Brundtland Commission Report (1987) emphasize the need to integrate environmental considerations with the decision-making process in corporations at the strategy level. That, perhaps, is the most appropriate way to approach the environmental issues. Separating environment from business is unlikely to produce large-scale positive initiatives by businesses for the environment.

adding to the challenge of green IT in business. The advances in technology is such that a large number of IT equipment become redundant and are discarded as part of hazardous waste, thereby increasing land and water contamination. Gartner (2008) identifies that ICT impacts the long-term socio-economic structure. This impact of ICT is classified in three levels, as shown in Figure 1. The first level is impact due to direct result of ICT usage, the second level is due to applications of ICT, and the third level is due to long term socio-economic changes. These orders or levels need to be considered carefully in any green IT strategies by organizations.

Environmental Impact of IT

GREENING IT STRATEGY

Each stage of the IT resources lifecycle, from manufacturing to usage and disposal, poses environmental issues (Murugesan, 2008). Numerous studies have concluded that IT infrastructure is a factor in sustainability and environmental issues such as power consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and land and water contamination. It has been reported that in 2006 approximately 6000 data centers in the US consumed 61 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, which is 1.5% of all electricity in US, and their power demand is growing at 12% per annum (Aronson, 2008; Kurp, 2008). The consumption of electricity by servers, desktops, communication and peripheral devices such as routers, modems, printers, and cooling equipment is increasing with advances in IT Technology. A computer running for around ten hours per day produces 1200 pounds of CO2, which is almost one tenth of what an automobile generates annually, i.e. 12,000 pounds (Weiss, 2007). Weiss further estimated that in 2007, worldwide, there were more than 2 billion computers as compared to 600 million vehicles. Furthermore, it is not just the operating emissions from these computers but their disposal at the end of their life that is

This section discusses goals of greening of IT and various approaches to greening. It also discusses tools for the evaluation of a Green IT Strategy.

Goals of Greening Greening of IT Strategy refers to adopting measures and techniques in IT Strategy which enable enterprises to support sustainability initiatives of corporate strategy. The goals of greening place emphasis on planning and decision making for utilizing IT resources efficiently and effectively, with zero or minimal effect on the environment, by achieving: • • • • • •

energy-efficiency and power management responsible disposal and recycling regulatory compliance green metrics, assessment tools, and methodology environment-related risk mitigation renewable energy sources usage

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Figure 1. Effects of ICT on Environmental Sustainability (based on Gartner (2008))

The Cost Imperatives It would be wrong to assume that greening increases the costs of IT systems. Consider the results from a survey of 1500 respondents from 758 organizations in Australia and New Zealand by Sun Microsystems, published in July 2007. As shown in Figure 2, lowering costs came as the second highest benefit of greening IT Strategy in this survey (Sun Microsystems, 2008). Similarly CSCI (2008) estimates that committed participant of their program will save $5.5 billion in energy costs and Weber et al. (2000) estimate that Energy Star labeled products could save $150 billion at present value of year 2000 from energy bills through year 2010. Hoffman and Woody (2008) argue that the costs of being green are high, but these costs must be seen in light of competitive, market and economic opportunities of becoming green.

Greening Approaches to IT Strategy This section discusses various approaches to greening IT such as power based approaches in

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Data Centers, Recycling, Tactical Incremental, Holistic, Architectural, Strategic Level and Deep Green approaches.

Data Centres Various studies have focused on improving data centers, the power houses of information age, by recommending different strategies (Courses & Surveys, 2008; Patterson, et al., 2006; Raghavendra, et al., 2008; Sukinik, 2006). Managing power distribution and cooling is the biggest challenge in greening data centers (Przybyla & Pegah, 2007). Powering down equipment when not in use, server consolidation and virtualization optimizes the use of data centre infrastructure (Forge, 2007). Aronson has suggested that right-sizing instead of over-specifying optimizes the use of data center resources (Aronson, 2008).

Reuse, Refurbish and Recycle A good Green IT Strategy often mandates a policy to reuse, refurbish or recycle IT equipment. Old

Approaches and Initiatives to Green IT Strategy in Business

Figure 2. Benefits from Greening of IT (based on Survey by Sun Microsystems (2007))

computers, for example, can be reused as file servers, open source routers or as training machines. The refurbished computer market became more visible when large inventories of used equipment were pushed onto the market by data center debacles between 2001 to 2003 (Shevlin, 2008). The refurbishment market helps cut down the waste and recycles IT equipment. Along with making a policy of buying refurbished equipment, an enterprise can also consider pushing used equipment to the refurbished market as part of greening IT strategy. Where it is not possible to reuse or refurbish the used equipment, it becomes e-waste. Hence having a policy in place for proper recycling of such e-waste in an environment friendly manner becomes desirable. Murugesan (2008) reports that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste is generated worldwide every year.

Tactical Incremental Approach In this approach, an enterprise incorporates simple incremental measures in existing IT infrastructure

and policies to achieve its greening goals (Murugesan, 2007). Examples of such measures could be powering down IT equipment when not in use, maintaining optimal room temperature, using energy efficient and cost effective computing and electrical equipment such as CFL lights, etc. These measures are incremental and often inexpensive to implement in terms of efforts and cost. Murugesan (2007) suggests that these measures are only short-term alternatives, and an enterprise may consider them as ad-hoc solutions only.

Holistic Approach The approaches mentioned above can be considered different views from different perspectives instead of a holistic approach. Murugesan (2008) recommends a holistic approach for addressing the issue of environmental impacts of IT and achieving total environmental sustainability. He recommends adopting green IT practices in complete IT lifecycle: manufacturing, design, use and disposal. Reuse and refurbishment of parts and equipment brings them back into lifecycle as is evident in

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Figure 3, thus benefiting the organization and the environment at the same time.

Architectural Approach However, it can be argued that a holistic plan for greening IT Strategy lies in an architectural approach (Williams & Curtis, 2008). Due to interdependencies and complexities of information systems, greening is not just possible by a single vendor or silver bullet solution, but only by making decisions and trade-offs at architectural level. Williams and Curtis (2008) identify the Green Architecture Cube which provides a planning roadmap based on green ecosystem. As illustrated in Figure 4, the green initiatives in an IT strategy impact the entire technology ecosystem. For example, an initiative to substitute travel by online collaboration tools would require additional resources in data center and communication infrastructure, such as servers, routers, switches and load balancers etc. These devices would consume more energy, require more cooling and increase load on system management infrastructure. This would lead to the hiring of more employees, who would consume more re-

sources in terms of office space and power for their computers. This would also mean providing more devices to employees such as video-cameras, and further increase of power consumption and load on administration by these end-user devices. Some employees might need to upgrade their existing infrastructures such as computers and networks unable to support online collaboration tools. Thus the decision to substitute travel by collaboration tools would have ripple effects on the entire ecosystem. Flattening a cube into the tree view in Figure 5 depicts the constituent components of green architecture ecosystem. In an IT Strategy for a large business, this tree could span hundreds or thousands of branches for multiple business units and worldwide infrastructure. An architectural approach to a green IT Strategy accounts for the complex relationship and stakeholders as depicted by the diagram.

Strategic Level Approach At the strategic level, an enterprise needs to conduct an audit of environmental impacts of its IT Strategy leading to development of a com-

Figure 3. Holistic Approach to Green IT (based on Murugesan (2008))

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Figure 4. Green Architecture Cube (based on Williams and Curtis (2008))

takes into account branding, image creation and marketing factors apart from energy efficiency and reduced emissions.

Deep Green Approach Murugesan (2007) suggests that deep green approach is an extension of measures at strategic level. In this approach the enterprise undertakes deep green initiatives such buying carbon credits, planting trees or using renewable sources of energy such as solar power and wind power. Murugesan further argues that organizations can go a step ahead by spreading awareness among partners and employees to practice green initiatives with IT at home.

Total Sustainability Indicator Approach prehensive plan addressing broader aspects of greening IT Strategy (Murugesan, 2007). The implementation of a green IT Strategy is achieved by strategic initiatives which are distinctive and distinguishable from overall IT initiatives. The examples include developing new policies for procurement according to government regulations e.g. Energy star, RoHS, deployment of new energy-efficient IT infrastructure and enterprise wide initiatives related to reuse, refurbish or recycling of IT equipment. The strategic approach

Goel, et. al. (2010) suggest an IT Architecture framework with a Sustainability View and mathematical modeling of various attributes based on utility theory, with further manipulation of these mathematical models using Game Theory based approaches. Sustainability View and utility theory give a numerical value to the current sustainability state of the whole Enterprise called Total Sustainability Indicator (TSI). Game theory is then used to find the future value of TSI if different busi-

Figure 5. Green Architecture Ecosystem (based on Williams and Curtis (2008))

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ness units choose different activities in a business process (Goel, et al., 2010).

Evaluating Green IT Strategy Evaluating the outcomes of a green IT Strategy is important for various reasons: • • •

Evaluation shows the value to the stakeholders. Evaluation allows the reassessment of the impacts of Green IT Strategy. Evaluation allows the planning of further levels and the revision of the current Green IT Strategy.

This section discusses the tools for evaluating Green IT Strategy such as the Greener IT Maturity Model, the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard and the Green IT Index.

Greener IT Maturity Model (GIMM) GIMM is being developed by the Society of Information Technology Management (SOCITM) in the UK. GIMM is an assessment tool for evaluating strategic responses of an organization to climate change. The strategic responses are evaluated in two aspects: internal in terms of energy/output

ratio and external in terms of enabling of greener services and behavior in community at large (SOCITM, 2008). The higher levels of maturity demand from an organization to continuously audit and improve factors such as energy consumption.

Sustainability Balanced Score Card The Balanced Score Card (BSC) approach (Kaplan & Norton, 1996) has been considered widely in practice and research for evaluation of different strategic management factors. The Sustainability Balanced Score Card (SBSC) integrates the three pillars of sustainability into a single overarching strategic performance measurement tool (Figge, Hahn, Schaltegger, & Wagner, 2002). The relationship of these pillars is described as the green case, the human case and the business case (Bieker, Dyllick, Gminder, & Hockerts, 2001). SBSC evaluates the long term relationship between strategy, resources and capabilities by comparing eco-efficiency indicators such as ratio of economic value added and environment impact added (Moller & Schaltegger, 2005). Figge et al. (2002) identify three approaches to SBSC:

Figure 6. Greener IT Maturity Model (based on SOCITM (2008))

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• • •

Integrate the sustainability aspect in existing four standard perspectives Add a sustainability perspective to existing score card Formulate a specific sustainability score card.

The choice of these approaches depends on the strategic challenges faced by the organization (Epstein & Wisner, 2001). Some example measures to be included in SBSC for Green IT Strategies are given Table 3.

Green IT Readiness Index A recent development in evaluation of IT Strategy has been development of the Green IT Readiness Index (Connection Research, 2009) by Connection Research, an Australian market research and consultancy company specializing in analysis of sustainability issues (Connection Research, 2010). The Green IT Readiness Index is based upon a framework derived from applying the CMM (Capability Maturity Model) (Paulk, 1995) across each of five aspects of Green IT. The five aspects as identified by Connection Research are: • •

• • •

Lifecycle and procurement Measurement and monitoring Enabling the business

The derived framework defines different levels of maturity in each of these five aspects. The answers from a survey containing questions from each of the aspects are quantified, weighted and averaged to generate the Index value. Index value of each aspect can also be determined separately and compared by industry. The Green IT Readiness Index allows a company to compare the evaluation of its own IT strategy with other companies or even the whole Industry Sector. For more details about Green IT Readiness Index the reader is encouraged to look into the reports published by Connection Research.

GREEN IT INITIATIVES This section discusses various initiatives for achieving Green IT by Industry and the Governments around the globe. This is not a complete survey of such initiatives but covers some of the more interesting ones.

End user efficiencies Enterprise IT efficiencies

Figure 7. Three pillars of sustainability (based on Bieker et al. (2001))

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Table 3. Measures for sustainability balanced score card Financial Measures

environmental fine and penalties energy costs disposal costs capital investments in green IT initiatives recycling revenues cost savings

Customer Measures

$ benefits of cause related marketing favorable and unfavorable press coverage eco-efficiency of green IT initiatives

Internal Business Processes

electricity consumed % partners confirming to green standards % purchases conforming to green regulations % equipment recycled and reused % equipment sold for refurbishing % equipment refurbished equipment bought heat generated

Learning and Growth

% employees switching off equipment when not in use number of employees aware of green IT initiatives

Government Initiatives USA Energy Star: 1992 One of the earliest initiatives, Energy Star is a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products (Brown, Webber, & Koomey, 2002; Johnson & Zoi, 1992; Webber, Brown, & Koomey, 2000). Operated jointly by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE), partnerships with various stakeholders are critical to the success of EPA program (Brown, et al., 2002). Weber et al. (2000) estimated that if Energy Star labeled products could achieve 100% market penetration, they could save US $150 billion at present value of 2000 from energy bills through 2010. Energy Star standards for Computer Servers were announced in May 2009 (Energy Star, 2009).

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EPEAT: Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool: 2006 Launched by a consortium of public and private agencies, EPEAT certification program standardizes the classification of electronics for meeting environmental standards and involves 23 mandatory criteria and 28 optional criteria including US Energy Star compliance. EPEAT is a crucial step in formalizing procurement of green-friendly IT by large-scale customers like governments and corporations. By labeling new Personal Computers and related products in terms of their environmental performance, EPEAT enables organizations to easily implement green aspects into their Green IT Strategy. In 2007, a US presidential executive order mandated federal agencies to ensure that at least 95 percent of all technology purchases must meet EPEAT certification. This order was subsequently followed by many state and local governments (Weiss, 2007).

Approaches and Initiatives to Green IT Strategy in Business

EU RoHS: Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations: 2006 Hazardous materials used for making IT hardware pose a threat at the time of production as well as at disposal. The European Union has passed the RoHS regulations in 2006, which set out a list of criteria for compliance through limiting the amount of hazardous substances that can be included in new electronic and electrical equipment (NetRegs, 2008). Weiss (2007) argues that RoHS could affect small business disproportionately, by requiring new investment in manufacturing processes with green materials and processes. Weiss advises that regulations like RoHS could also introduce further complications. For example, low-lead and lead-free solder that meet RoHS restrictions may reduce the long term reliability of a product.

EU WEEE: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations: 2006 WEEE aims to reduce the amount of e-waste, encourage the reuse, recovery, recycling, treatment and environmental disposal of e-waste, and make manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment responsible for environmental impacts of their products (NetRegs, 2008). The WEEE regulations deal with separate collection, disposal, and recycling; standards for e-waste treatment at authorized facilities; and collection, recycling, and recovery targets (Murugesan, 2008).

Industry Initiatives Green Grid: 2007 A global consortium of IT vendors, including AMD, Dell, IBM, Sun Microsystems, and VMware, formed a non-profit group named the Green Grid in February 2007, with the goal of defining

and propagating energy efficiency practices in data centers and IT systems (Murugesan, 2008). The Green Grid collaborates with companies, government agencies and industry groups to provide recommendations on best practices, metrics, and technologies that will improve IT energy efficiency (Kurp, 2008).

CSCI: Climate Savers Computing Initiative Started by Google and Intel in 2007, the CSCI is a non-profit initiative of eco-conscious consumers, businesses and conservation organizations (CSCI, 2009). The goal of CSCI is to promote development, deployment and adoption energyefficient computers in active and inactive state. CSCI (2009) states their mission as reduction of global CO2 emissions by 54 million tons per year and reduction of power consumption by 50% by year 2010. The committed participants are expected to save approx. US $5.5 billion in energy costs (CSCI, 2009).

IT Vendor Initiatives Apple claims that its product packaging strategy is addressing environmental issues by using recyclable materials and by reducing the amount of packaging needed by as much as 59% for the fifth generation iPod (Weiss, 2007). Further, Apple also promotes recycling by exchange offers where customers return old iPods to get discount on new purchases (Weiss, 2007). New OptiPlex desktops from Dell are 50% more energy-efficient than similar systems manufactured in 2005. Hewlett-Packard recently claimed its rp5700 desktop PC exceeds US Energy Star 4.0 standards and has 90% of recyclable materials. (Kurp, 2008). Many organizations are trying to minimize the loss of energy by building facilities close to energy sources as part of their IT Strategy. For example, Microsoft has built a data center con-

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suming approximately 27 megawatts of energy at any given time in central Washington which is powered by hydroelectricity produced by two dams in the region (Kurp, 2008). Companies are also promoting use of renewable energy sources. For example, HP purchased 11 million kWh of renewable electricity in 2006 with plans to increase renewable energy purchases by 350% to 50 million kWh by the end of 2007 (Weiss, 2007).

RECOMMENDATIONS This section presents the output of the research conducted by the lead author. This is an original six step methodology for greening an IT strategy. An enterprise needs to think of greening its IT Strategy and integrating it with its overall corporate sustainability strategy and business strategy. The following steps are recommended for the greening of an organization’s IT Strategy: Step 1. Identify the Corporate Strategy, Business Strategy and Sustainability Strategy of the Enterprise: Figure 8. Six step methodology for greening IT Strategy

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It is important to understand the context under which the business operates to continue IT-Business alignment. Greening should not cause the IT strategy to deviate from the overall direction of business as outlined in its business and sustainability strategy. Step 2. Select the combination of Greening approaches to be adopted, e.g. incremental, strategic, architectural, deep green, etc. Identifying the approach is connected to the extent of greening an enterprise is willing to support and invest in. Selecting an approach not consistent with overall vision of organization may lead to multiple risks such as stakeholder buy-in and implementation failures. Step 3. Assess the environmental impact of the current IT strategy. Assessing the current impacts provides a baseline reference for identifying gaps, planning and decision making. As an outcome of this assessment, a sustainability view of IT strategy emerges. Step 4. Define the target view of the green IT Strategy. The future or target view of the green IT strategy will have linkages with overall corporate environmental goals outlined in its sustainability strategy. Defining the future view supports in prioritizing investments and implementing strategic initiatives. Step 5. Implement the green initiatives. Roll out the green initiatives, which could be incremental, strategic or deep, depending on the approach adopted by the enterprise. The rollout should be done in a phased manner instead of a big bang approach. The change introduced by the rollout should be handled with careful planning and sufficient communication with all the stakeholders involved. Step 6. Evaluate the Green IT Strategy. Investments in greening should be justified with measurable outcomes at the organizational and social level. The evaluation should have linkage with the Corporate Social Responsibility of the organization. The SBSC, GIMM or Green IT

Approaches and Initiatives to Green IT Strategy in Business

Readiness Index approaches explained earlier in this chapter can be used for this purpose.

menting green initiatives and evaluating the green IT strategy.

FUTURE WORK AND CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

We believe that in future green IT Strategy will become an integral part of the Enterprise Architecture Framework. As part of our research we are working on applying green approaches for IT Strategy towards Enterprise Architecture Framework. These include the Total Sustainability Indicator (TSI) (Goel, et al., 2010) and a Sustainability view in overall ICT Architecture Framework. Business model of Virtual Enterprise is becoming popular since last decade. Virtual Enterprise is ad-hoc collaboration of different enterprises or organizations, who come together to share skills, competencies and resources of each other to exploit a specific business opportunity (Goel, Schmidt, & Gilbert, 2009). Virtual Enterprise is formed quickly and then dissolved after the goal is achieved or opportunity vanishes. Sustainability or Green concerns may take a backseat in such an agile and flexible organizational setup. Integrating Green ICT strategy with formal models of Virtual Enterprise Architecture might be a solution to address Sustainability concerns in Virtual Enterprises. Inefficient use of IT resources increases not only power consumption but also the resources consumed in manufacturing and waste produced by obsolete hardware. The environmental impact of IT Systems needs to be addressed at a strategic level by the enterprise. Green IT strategy results in environmental as well as cost benefits for the organizations. Various initiatives by governments and industry contribute to the green IT revolution. The greening of IT strategy can be achieved using our six step methodology within the overall strategic context of the enterprise. The six steps in the methodology are identifying the strategic context, selecting the green approach, assessing the current impact, defining a target view, imple-

Aronson, J. (2008). Making IT a Positive Force in Environmental Change. IT Professional, 43–45. doi:10.1109/MITP.2008.13 Bieker, T., Dyllick, T., Gminder, C., & Hockerts, K. (2001). Towards a Sustainability Balanced Scorecard-Linking Environmental and Social Sustainability to Business Strategy. Brown, R., Webber, C., & Koomey, J. (2002). Status and future directions of the Energy Star program. Energy, 27(5), 505–520. doi:10.1016/ S0360-5442(02)00004-X Brundtland, G. (1987). Our Common Future / World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (2009). Connection Research. Australia: Green IT and Sustainability in Australia. Connection Research. (2010). Connection Research Website Retrieved 01 Jan 2010, 2010, from http://www.connectionresearch.com.au/ Courses, E., & Surveys, T. (2008). Methods and techniques for measuring and improving data center best practices. CSCI. (2009). CSCI Website Retrieved 25 Dec 2009, 2009, from http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/ Energy Star. (2009). Energy Star Website Retrieved 25 Dec 2009, 2009, from http://www. energystar.gov/ Enkvist, P., Naucler, T., & Rosander, J. (2007). A cost curve for greenhouse gas reduction. The McKinsey Quarterly, 1, 34–45.

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Epstein, M., & Wisner, P. (2001). Using a Balanced Scorecard to Implement Sustainability. Environmental Quality Management, 11(2), 1–10. doi:10.1002/tqem.1300

Murugesan, S. (2007). Going Green with IT: Your Responsibility Toward Environmental Sustainability. Cutter Consortium Business-IT Strategies Executive Report, 10(8).

Figge, F., Hahn, T., Schaltegger, S., & Wagner, M. (2002). The Sustainability Balanced Scorecardlinking sustainability management to business strategy. Business Strategy and the Environment, 11(5), 269–284. doi:10.1002/bse.339

Murugesan, S. (2008). Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices. IT Professional, 10(1), 24–33. doi:10.1109/MITP.2008.10

Forge, S. (2007). Powering down: remedies for unsustainable ICT. Foresight-Cambridge, 9(4), 3–21. doi:10.1108/14636680710773795 Goel, A., Schmidt, H., & Gilbert, D. (2009). Towards formalizing Virtual Enterprise Architecture. Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops, 2009. EDOCW 2009. 13th, 238-242. Goel, A., Tiwary, A., & Schmidt, H. (2010). Green ICT and Architectural Frameworks. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Green ICT: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Hoffman, A. J., & Woody, J. G. (2008). Climate change: what’s your business strategy?Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Johnson, B., & Zoi, C. (1992). EPA Energy Star Computers: The Next Generation of Office Equipment. Paper presented at the ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). The balanced scorecard: translating strategy into action. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Kurp, P. (2008). Green computing. Communications of the ACM, 51(10), 11–13. doi:10.1145/1400181.1400186 Moller, A., & Schaltegger, S. (2005). The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard as a Framework for Ecoefficiency Analysis. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 9(4), 73–83. doi:10.1162/108819805775247927

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Patterson, M., Pratt, A., & Kumar, P. (2006). From UPS to Silicon, an End-to-End Evaluation of Data Center Efficiency Paper presented at the Proceedings of the EPA Event: Enterprise Servers and Data Centers: Opportunities for Energy Savings. Paulk, M. C. (1995). The capability maturity model: guidelines for improving the software process. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Przybyla, D., & Pegah, M. (2007). Dealing with the veiled devil: eco-responsible computing strategy. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services, Orlando, Florida, USA. Raghavendra, R., Ranganathan, P., Talwar, V., Wang, Z., & Zhu, X. (2008). No ‘power’struggles: coordinated multi-level power management for the data center. Shevlin, B. (2008). When and How to Use Refurbished Equipment for IT Needs. IT Professional, 46–49. doi:10.1109/MITP.2008.19 Sukinik, D. (2006). First green data center. Sustainable Facility. Viederman, S. (1996). Sustainability’s five capitals and three pillars. Building Sustainable Societies: A Blueprint for a Post-Industrial World, pp. 45-53. Webber, C., Brown, R., & Koomey, J. (2000). Savings estimates for the Energy Star® voluntary labeling program. Energy Policy, 28(15), 1137–1149. doi:10.1016/S0301-4215(00)00083-5 Weiss, A. (2007). Can the PC go green? netWorker, 11(2), 18–25. doi:10.1145/1268577.1268578

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Williams, J., & Curtis, L. (2008). Green: The New Computing Coat of Arms? IT Professional, 10(1), 12–16. doi:10.1109/MITP.2008.9

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Tactical Incremental Approach: An approach for Green IT strategy in which an enterprise incorporates simple incremental measures in existing IT infrastructure and policies to achieve its greening goals. Holistic Approach: An approach for Green IT strategy in which emphasis is laid on adopting green IT practices in complete IT lifecycle Architectural Approach: An approach for Green IT Strategy which recommends greening by making decisions and trade-offs at architectural level because of interdependencies and complexities of information systems. Strategic Level Approach: An approach for Green IT Strategy in which green IT is achieved by strategic initiatives which are distinctive and distinguishable from overall IT initiatives. Deep Green Approach: An approach for Green IT Strategy in which the enterprise undertakes deep green initiatives such as buying carbon credits, planting trees or using renewable sources of energy such as solar power and wind power

etc. This is considered an extension of Strategic Level approach. Total Sustainability Indicator Approach: An approach for Green IT Strategy which recommends using an IT Architecture framework with a Sustainability View and mathematical modeling of various attributes based on utility theory, with further manipulation of these mathematical models using Game Theory based approaches. Greener IT Maturity Model (GIMM): GIMM is an assessment tool for evaluating strategic responses of an organization to climate change developed from Capability Maturity Model (CMM) concept of Carnegie Mellon University. Sustainability Balanced Score Card: SBSC is an extension of The Balanced Score Card (BSC) approach (Kaplan & Norton, 1996) for incorporating green aspects in evaluation of strategy. The Sustainability Balanced Score Card (SBSC) integrates the three pillars of sustainability into a single overarching strategic performance measurement tool Green IT Readiness Index: The Green IT Readiness Index is a value arrived at by quantifying, and averaging answers to a survey across each of five aspects of Green IT. The Green IT Readiness Index allows a company to compare the evaluation of its own IT strategy with other companies or even the whole Industry Sector.

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Chapter 12

The Optimizing Web:

A Green ICT Research Perspective Aditya Ghose University of Wollongong, Australia Graham Billiau University of Wollongong, Australia

ABSTRACT There is a global consensus on the need to reduce our collective carbon footprint. Improving the efficiency of how we use our infrastructure is central to reducing energy consumption. Optimization is fundamental to any approach to climate change mitigation. While optimization technology has been on offer for almost 70 years, most applications of optimization technology have been in piecemeal, monolithic optimization systems. Yet the climate change crisis requires optimization on a large-scale, and in manner that permits entities in a massive planetary supply chain to collaborate to achieve the commonly agreed upon carbon mitigation objective. Traditional stand-alone “batch” optimization will also not be adequate for this setting, but will need to be tightly coupled with networks of planners and controllers. This chapter presents a vision for the Optimizing Web – a large global network of interoperating optimizers that is as ubiquitous as the present-day web, and that leverages it’s existing infrastructure for green ICT.

INTRODUCTION There is widespread recognition of the climate change crisis, and the need to develop scientific, technological and managerial responses. Current thinking on climate change responses emphasizes the development of alternative energy sources, the development of smart automotive technology and DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch012

the introduction of macro-economic levers (e.g., carbon taxes, ETS’s) to alter energy consumption behaviour at the level of both enterprises and individuals. Fundamental to any solution to the problem is optimization – in particular, the ability to optimize energy use – yet this has been largely ignored in the current discourse. It is well-known that our global industrial/technological infrastructure, including transportation systems, manufacturing plants,

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human habitat and so on, is typically operated in an ad-hoc and significantly sub-optimal fashion. This remains the case despite our having had access to sophisticated optimization technology for almost the past seven decades (present day operations research techniques trace their roots to the pioneering work of George Dantzig in the early 1940s that resulted in the original optimization algorithm – linear programming). Much could be achieved by ensuring more widespread adoption of optimization technology. Optimizations problems are typically defined in terms of a set of decision variables (an assignment of a value to each of these constitutes a solution to the problem), a set of constraints (which specify allowed combinations of values for these variables) and an objective function defined on the set of decision variables. Solving an optimization problem involves seeking to maximize or minimize the value of this function, i.e., to find an allocation of values to the decision variables such that the value of this function is either maximized or minimized. The opportunities for optimizing energy use extend far beyond those presented by simply facilitating greater uptake of optimization solutions. We know that composing an optimal solution to a problem involving the set of decision variables {X, Y} with the optimal solution for a problem involving the variables {Y, Z} does not necessarily provide an optimal solution to the problem obtained by combining these two smaller problems (assuming the existence of a common objective function). This is often because constraints that hold between sub-problems are not visible when one limits one’s view to a specific sub-problem. Thus, locally optimal behaviour does not guarantee “globally” optimal behaviour. Conversely, an optimal solution for a problem might not necessarily be optimal for each of its constituent sub-problems. While optimization technology has been on offer for almost 70 years, most applications of optimization technology have been in piecemeal,

monolithic optimization systems. Yet the climate change crisis requires optimization on a largescale, and in manner that permits entities in a massive planetary supply chain to collaborate to achieve the commonly agreed upon carbon mitigation objective. Traditional stand-alone “batch” optimization will also not be adequate for this setting, but will need to be tightly coupled with networks of planners and controllers. Agent technology offers the best starting point for developing such technology. The climate change crisis has presented the optimization community with a historic opportunity – for the first time ever, we have a globally agreed-upon objective function, the carbon footprint minimization objective. This opens up the possibility for large-scale collaborative optimization, where large numbers of autonomous entities might collaborate to obtain an optimal value for a shared objective function. Our aim to design and validate the conceptual underpinnings of the optimizing web – the infrastructure that would support very large scale collaborative optimization across a potentially global collection of local optimizers. The vision is to provide ubiquitous collaborative optimization services, at the level of individual devices, vehicles within transportation systems, units within organizations or plants as well aggregations of all of these. The optimizing web would provide a protocol (or protocols) for local optimizers to inter-operate to optimize the global carbon footprint minimization objective, while making appropriate trade-offs in relation to their local objectives. While the modelling and solution of “local” optimization has been the focus of attention for the operations research (OR) community for several decades, this project addresses the question of how large collections of optimization solutions, with possibly intersecting signatures (sets of common variables), might be made to inter-operate to optimize a shared function (the carbon footprint minimization objective). This poses several interesting challenges. The first of these is defining and detecting objective

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function alignment/consistency (the objectives maximize x and minimize x are usually, but not necessarily, inconsistent). We need to understand how to define collections of optimizers whose objective functions are aligned by design. When we must incorporate legacy optimization solutions within the fabric of the optimizing web, or where legacy (and relatively inflexible) local objectives exist, we need to devise negotiation mechanisms where incentives can be provided to these optimizers to accept sub-optimal behaviours (or assignments) in the interests of the global objective. Distributed optimization protocols need to be devised, which would permit local optimizers to exchange messages to coordinate their behaviours/ assignments, in a manner that is agnostic to the internal implementation of the optimizer or the optimization technique used. The focus of optimization techniques is on resource allocation while planning and control techniques help determine what activities should be performed and in what sequence. A key element of optimizing operations is optimal planning, in particular, distributed continual optimal planning. While there has been some research on identifying the synergies between optimization and planning techniques, distributed optimal continual planning remains a largely open question. Advances in this area will be critical in leveraging the full value of the optimizing web. Intelligent agent technology provides the ideal starting point for this effort. Intelligent agents (autonomous entities that are able to pro-actively plan to achieve goals, react to changes in their environment and interact meaningfully with other agents) have been the subject of considerable research over the past two decades. Two aspects of agent technology are of relevance to this project. The first involves distributed constraint satisfaction (DCSP) and distributed agent-based optimization. A large number of DCSP techniques exist, while the first handful of distributed optimization algorithms has also recently been reported in the literature. The second aspect of agent technology

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of interest is agent planning, and in particular, distributed planning in multi-agent systems. Ultimately, all of these results (plus some additional work on XML-based messaging standards for inter-agent coordination) need to be brought to bear in developing the conceptual underpinnings of the optimizing web – a large collection of interoperating agents that collaborate to minimize the global carbon footprint. In this chapter, we will outline the research challenges presented by this ambitious agenda. In the next section we will explore the problem of defining optimization architectures. We will then identify the specific challenges associated with distributed optimization and outline the SBDO algorithm as a first step to addressing these. We will also discuss the challenges associated with enabling interoperation between distributed planning and distributed scheduling. We hope to seed widespread research interest in this agenda, which is both timely and of considerable social significance.

ENGINEERING OPTIMIZATION ARCHITECTURES Fundamental to the optimizing web is the notion of an optimization architecture, i.e., a collection of appropriately configured inter-operating optimizers. It specifies the constituent optimizers, their signatures (the decision variables whose values are determined by the optimizer in question), their parameters (the variables whose values constrain the optimizer in question), and the nature of the inter-agent coordination messages exchanged. The architecture is agnostic to the internals of individual optimizers. We might design an optimization architecture from scratch, or we might engineer one around pre-existing, legacy optimizers. Both present challenges. Foremost amongst these is the notion of objective alignment (or consistency). An objective function determines the optimization behaviour

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of an agent, i.e., the choices it makes amongst possible alternative solutions. Objective alignment helps ensure that optimizers use objectives that are aligned with the global carbon footprint minimization objective. Given a set of objective functions, we need to be able to determine if these jointly determine a consistent set of optimization behaviours. Consider the pair of objective functions minimize x and minimize –x. If the set of feasible solutions (i.e., solutions that satisfy all of the applicable constraints) is non-singleton, then an agent will not be able to satisfy both objectives (since they, in effect, “pull in opposite directions”). If there is exactly one feasible solution, however, the pair of objectives is in fact aligned. Similarly, the objectives minimize x and minimize x2 are not aligned in general, but may be aligned if x is restricted to be positive. Definitions of objective alignment did not exist in the literature, until our preliminary work in (Dasgupta and Ghose, 2006), where we view an objective function as a preference relation defined over the set of feasible solutions. Alignment then reduces to the absence of contradictory preferences. While this approach provides the conceptual framework for understanding objective alignment, it does not immediately lead to practical tools for checking alignment. A major challenge is the fact that alignment cannot be determined on the basis of the objectives alone, but is also contingent on the set of applicable constraints, and hence the set of feasible solutions (as the examples above illustrate). Additionally, exhaustively enumerating the preference relation on the set of feasible solutions is impractical, yet there are no easy approaches to performing alignment checking analytically. A compromise is to perform approximate checking using heuristic techniques, with no guarantee of completeness. The methodological bases for designing optimization architectures need to be defined. Ensuring that the objectives within an optimization architecture are aligned with the global carbon footprint minimization objective by design also

requires the ability to decompose objectives (for instance, how do we start with a set of high-level organizational objectives and decompose these into the objectives of the constituent business units, while maintaining consistency with a global objective?). Finally, we need to understand how to measure (or monetize) the trade-offs between the local objectives of an optimizer and the global (carbon mitigation) objective. In other words, we need to devise mechanisms to incentivize an agent to adopt behaviour that is potentially sub-optimal relative to its own objectives, in the interests of the global objective.

DISTRIBUTED OPTIMIZATION: THE OPEN QUESTIONS While the operations research community has devoted almost six decades to modelling and solving specific optimization problems, very little has been done to enable optimizers to inter-operate. The agents community has addressed this problem, first in the context of solving satisfaction problems (where we seek values for our decision variables that satisfy the applicable constraints – but without reference to an objective function) in the distributed constraint satisfaction problem (DCSP) literature, and subsequently in the nascent distributed constraint satisfaction optimization problem (DCSOP) literature. Examples of recent DCSOP proposals include algorithms such as ADOPT (Modi et al, 2005) and DPOP (Petcu and Faltings, 2005), but these need to be improved in several ways to suit the needs of a large-scale collaborative optimization protocol. Fundamental to the idea of distributed collaborative optimization is message exchange (under an appropriate protocol) between agents that solve/optimize local sub-problems. We may view each agent as consisting of a signature (the set of decision variables) and a parameter set (the variables, potentially controlled by other agents, whose values constrain the agent’s choices). Col-

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laborative optimization is then a dialogue where agents communicate the portions of their assignments (values to variables in their signature) to other agents in order to ensure that the assignments to the other agents make are consistent (relative to the applicable inter-agent constraints) and that the best possible choices are made relative to the shared global objective. In several existing approaches (Modi et al, 2005, Chechetka and Sycara 2006), this dialogue involves a priority order on the set of agents. Agents higher up in this ordering make their own assignments, while agents lower down in the priority ordering are obliged to make assignments consistent with those made by higher priority agents. In many settings, this raises questions of equity. In a business network, for instance, it is sometimes difficult to make the case that a supplier should align its schedule with that of its downstream buyer (which may have been optimized for the buyer’s own internal objective), especially when doing so is sub-optimal for the supplier. A more interesting approach would be to construct this dialogue as argumentation, where arguments provide “justifications” for why an agent should make a certain assignment. These reasons must necessarily address the impact of an assignment on the shared objective, but may also refer to issues such as the size of the search space that would have to be re-visited if the agent were to reject the proposal. This approach has been developed and validated in the SBDS DCSP algorithm (Harvey et al, 2006) and the SBDO DCSOP algorithm (Billiau and Ghose, 2009). We explain SBDO further in the next section. Distributed optimization techniques must also account for dynamic contexts. We need to understand how an agent might re-compute its neighbourhood (in terms of other agents, and the parameters that they control) when changes occur. Simiarly when an agent is added to the problem it needs to be able to discover its initial neighbourhood. Agents also need to discover constraints when changes occur (e.g., what are the new constraints that relate an agent with a new

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agent in its neighbourhood?). Finally, agents need to leverage techniques that permit them to re-use previous solutions, as opposed to re-computing solutions from scratch every time there is a change. Most existing distributed optimization techniques assume that agents share a common objective function. As discussed earlier, this is often not the case. Agents often need to be incentivized to adopt behaviour that is locally sub-optimal, but which helps optimize a global objective. Deciding the nature and quantum of the incentive can be achieved via negotiation. Distributed optimization techniques need to be extended to incorporate such schemes.

THE SBDO APPROACH TO DISTRIBUTED OPTIMIZATION In this section we will motivate the SBDO algorithm for distributed optimization in dynamic contexts. A preliminary description of this algorithm appears in (Billau and Ghose, 2009). Dynamic Distributed Constraint Optimisation Problems (DynDCOP’s) seek to provide techniques to avoid repeated re-computation of solutions in the face of frequent changes to the input problem. Current DCOP algorithms, such as ADOPT (Modi et.al 2005, Silaghi and Yokoo 2009, Yeoh et al 2008), DPOP (Petcu 2007) and NCBB (Chechetka and Sycara 2006) are unsuitable for solving DynDCOP problems, as they rely on the variables being ordered in a pre-processing stage (this would have to be repeated manually for every change to the problem). Algorithms such as DynDBA (Mailler 2005) and DynAWC (Schiex and Verfaillie 1994) solve distributed dynamic CSP’s (but not optimization problems). DynCOAA (Mertens 2006) solves DynDCOP’s but using a entirely different technology – ant colony optimisation. Finally algorithms such as R-DPOP (Petcu 2007) can optimise dynamic problems by running the variable ordering mechanism in parallel with the solving mechanism. None of the above algorithms

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take into account the possibility that the agents in the network may fail (this is a real possibility that algorithms which need to run continually for long durations need to account for). In order to overcome these problems we present a new algorithm for solving DynDCOP’s called Support Based Distributed Optimisation (SBDO) that is completely asynchronous, anytime, fault tolerant and does not require the re-computation of variable orderings every time the problem undergoes change (such as the addition/deletion of variables, constraints or objectives). SBDO addresses distributed optimisation problems where the problem-solving knowledge (constraints) as well as the objectives are distributed across a set of agents. As with many other proposals in the area, we make the simplifying assumption that each agent corresponds to a single decision variable, i.e., the agent is able to autonomously decide on the value of that variable. This does not lead to a loss of generality, since a variable could represent a sub-problem with multiple underlying decision variables (the Cartesian product of whose domains would constitute the domain of this higher-level variable). In SBDO, we make the simplifying assumption that there exists a global objective function that the collection of agents seeks to optimise, but we require that it must be possible to decompose this function into agent-specific objective functions such that if each agent were to optimise its local objective function, the resulting global solution would be optimal. We assume that each objective function returns a real value that encodes the utility of the partial solution. The utility values returned by all of the objective functions must be comparable. To increase the generality of the algorithm shared objectives can be used as well as local objectives. Shared objectives are used when a (sub)objective can not be decomposed to include only the variables of one agent. In this case the objective can be shared between the agents which together control the variables used in the objective. The value of the objective (given a current assignment of values to variables

in its signature) is evaluated by any of the agents that share it as soon as that agent knows the assignment to all the variables in the objective. The utility returned by the shared objective is added to the utility of the agent’s local objective. If the agent does not have enough information to evaluate the objective, it is ignored and only the agents local objective is used. It is trivial to convert soft or valued constraints to shared objectives. The objective function is defined by the values in the constraint and the agents/variables that it is shared between are the agents/variables involved in the constraint. Many real world problems include hard constraints as well as a global objective. To ensure that any solution produced by SBDO satisfies all the hard constraints they are handled differently to objectives. Nogood’s with justifications (Shiex and Verfaillie 1993) are used as they allow us to guarantee that any solution generated will satisfy all the hard constraints while also allowing for changes in the problem. (this is demonstrated in Harvey et. al. 2006). Due to the dynamic nature of the input problem the algorithm never terminates (detecting that the network of agents has reached a quiescent state, or detecting that the problem is over-constrained are in themselves insufficient as terminating criteria, since new inputs from the environment, in the form of added or deleted variables/constraints/objectives might invalidate them). In dynamic settings, we view SBDO as an anytime algorithm, which the user can ‘interrupt’ at any time (allowing for a certain duration since the last change to the problem during which the solution may be inconsistent) to obtain the current near-optimal solution. The duration during which the solution may not be consistent is the period required for the obsolete nogood’s to be removed and utility values updated throughout the network. As with anytime algorithms SBDO is pre-emptivly schedulable (it saves state when interrupted, and resumes from the saved state). As with anytime algorithms, the solution quality is monotonically non-decreasing (see also Section 3 on evaluation results). However if the algorithm is deployed in

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a static environment detecting that the network has reached a quiescent state is sufficient to detect termination. This can be achieved by taking a consistent global snapshot using algorithms such as the one proposed by Chandy and Lamport (1985). The algorithm will also terminate if it detects that there is no solution to the problem. For correct operation all that is required is that messages are never lost. SBDO is in part inspired by techniques used in formal argumentation, where the notion of an argument is used to encode alternate points of view. A range of techniques have been developed in formal argumentation theory for identifying the set of winning arguments, given a base set of arguments. Every partial assignment in SBDO, annotated with a utility value (called an isgood, to be described in detail later) is similar to an argument (for the receiving agent to take on a value consistent with the isgood). The sequence of variable-value assignments in an isgood may be viewed as a justification. As in argumentation, the agent receiving these (potentially competing) arguments must pick the winning argument (ie., isgood). An argument may attack/defeat other arguments. Arguments are represented as <justification, conclusion> pairs. Each agent also attempts to send stronger arguments over time to attempt to influence their neighbours.

SBDO: DETAILS Support Based Distributed Optimisation is an extension to Support Based Distributed Search (Harvey et. al. 2006). In order to optimise the solution, as well as to prevent cycles forming SBDO uses a global total ordering over the set of partial solutions. To determine this ordering first the total utility of the partial solution is considered, with higher values preferred. If they are equal the size of the partial solution is considered, with larger solutions preferred. If they are equal an arbitrary total ordering is used (hash functions can provide this total ordering). Whenever we refer to one isgood

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being better than another in this paper it is with respect to this ordering. An isgood is an ordered partial solution ie. a sequence of triples consisting of the agent identifier, the assignment(s) to that agents variable(s) and the utility value returned by that agents local objective. It is written as _(agent, assignment, utility),..._,where utility is the utility of the assignment to agent. Each agent must be a neighbour of the agent immediately before it in the isgood. Isgood’s are the main message used for communication between agents and roughly means “I’ve taken the value... because...”. The total utility of an isgood is the sum of the utilities of all the assignments within it. In order to guarantee that any solution generated satisfies all the hard constraints nogood’s with justifications (Shiex and Verfaillie 1993) are used. A nogood is a partial solution that is proven to not be part of any global solution, ie. a collection of assignments that together violate one or more constraints. When an agent sees a partial solution that is a superset of one of the nogood’s it knows about it can immediately reject that partial solution. When a nogood is created the set of all hard constraints that are violated are added to the nogood. These constraints form the justification of the nogood. Whenever a constraint is removed from the problem the justifications of all nogood’s are checked, if they contain the constraint then that nogood is also deleted. Because only the current value of each agent is communicated to other agents it is easy to modify the algorithm to solve problems with continuous or infinite domains. Each agent selects it’s own value and communicates it to the other agents exactly as for finite domains. However nogood’s must be modified to exclude a range of values, instead of a single value. Because there is no hierarchy between the agents and it is a local search algorithm, each agent is free to change its own assignment at any time. This allows agents in different parts of the problem to act independently. Even neighbouring agents can act independently as they are not waiting on a message from a child or parent. That

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the algorithm is fault tolerant follows from the algorithm being completely asynchronous. This allows all the other agents to continue solving when one or many of the agents fail, it is just that the value assigned to the failed agent can not be changed. When the agent is restarted it will be able to quickly rebuild its state information from the messages sent to it by other agents. Cyclic behaviour is a problem that plagues distributed algorithms. It occurs when a cycle of agents form which oscillate between two or more sets of assignments. In most algorithms it is prevented by having a total order over the agents. So one agent can not cause the value of a higher ranked agent to change. In order to prevent cyclic behaviour in SBDO a total order over the partial solutions is used instead. There are two parts to the cyclic behaviour prevention, first is the greedy selection of its new view and second is the constant attempt to increase the length of isgood’s sent to neighbours. Because any cycle must be finite and we constantly increase the length of isgood’s, eventually an isgood will include all the agents in the cycle. If the values in the cycle violate a constraint then a nogood will be generated to break the cycle. Otherwise the greedy selection of its new view will cause all the agents to converge to the best solution within the cycle. The selection of which agent to use as the support and the ordering over partial solutions are critical to the performance of this algorithm. If agents change their support often then it is easier for the algorithm to escape from local optima, but it is just as likely to get stuck in a worse local optima as a better one and it will take longer to converge on a solution. While if agents change their support rarely the algorithm will converge to a solution quickly, but will not explore much of the search space. There are three basic types of changes to the environment that must be communicated to the SBDO agents. They are a hard constraint has changed, an objective has changed and an agent has been added/removed. These messages are as-

sumed to be sent by the environment to all agents that are affected by the change, but they could be sent by one of the agents instead. A change to the hard constraints is handled by the add constraint and remove constraint messages. Modifying constraints is achieved by first removing the old constraint then adding the modified constraint. Adding constraints is easy, the constraint is simply added to the agents known constraints. Removing constraints is harder, as the justification of all nogood’s must be updated. Then the constraint can be removed from the agents known constraints. A change to the objectives, whether local or shared, is handled by the add objective and remove objective messages. Modifying objectives is achieved by first removing the old objective then adding the modified one. Both adding and removing objectives is easy, the objective is added or removed from the agents known objectives, then the agent re-evaluates its own assignment and updates its neighbours as normal. A change to the agents involved is handled implicitly by the other environment messages. When an agent no longer has any links to one of its neighbours, that agent is no longer a neighbour. Similarly once an agent has no links to any other agents it is effectively removed from the problem. Agents are added to the problem by creating a link between them and another agent. In the process they are then also a neighbour of that agent. When the environment decides that one agent in the problem is no longer required it sends a terminate message to that agent, which causes the agent to shutdown gracefully. Similarly if the environment decides that the algorithm has finished it can send a different terminate message which will cascade through the network, causing the entire algorithm to shutdown gracefully. Algorithm: The basic steps each agent takes are quite simple, First it processes all the messages in its message queue. Then it decides what value to assign to its own variable. Last it sends all of its neighbours a message telling them what value it has chosen. Processing messages starts with all

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of the nogood’s received. Nogood’s are processed first in case they are later rendered obsolete by a message from the environment and because one of them might be a sub-set of one of the isgood’s in the message queue. When a nogood is received it is added to the set of all known nogood’s, then all the received isgood’s must be rechecked to see if there is still a valid assignment to this agents own variable. If there isn’t a nogood is created and sent back to the agent that sent the isgood. This will force the sender to change their value in the next iteration. Next all messages from the environment are processed. The order within this group doesn’t matter, but they may affect how the isgood’s are processed Finally the received isgood’s are processed. First the received isgood’s are updated with this most recent isgood, then it checks if there is a valid assignment to its own variable. If there isn’t a nogood is created and sent back to the agent that sent the isgood. This will force the sender to change their value in the next iteration. While the processing of most messages from the environment is straight forward, removing constraints requires special mention. When a constraint is removed from the problem all of the nogood’s that were generated because of that constraint must also be removed. This is made more difficult because it is possible for the nogood message to arrive after the remove constraint message that makes it obsolete. In order to ensure they are all deleted each agent must also maintain a store of all the nogood’s it has sent and who it sent them to. Then when a remove constraint message is received by an agent it checks its sent nogood store to see if any of its neighbours must be notified. If any of the nogood’s have the removed constraint as part of their justification they are now obsolete and the agents neighbour must be notified. To notify the neighbour this agent sends a constraint removed message (this is different to the remove constraint message) with the constraint that has been removed and the total number of nogood’s sent to that agent that are made obsolete. When an agent receives the constraint

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removed message it must go through its store of received constraints and delete any that have this constraint as part of their justification. For each one that is deleted the counter of total obsolete nogood’s in the constraint removed message is decremented. When the counter reaches zero all of the obsolete nogood’s have been deleted and the constraint removed message can be deleted. The agent must also check its own store of sent nogood’s to see if any of its neighbours must be notified of the change. This is exactly as above. If an agent receives two or more constraint removed messages for the same constraint the counters are simply added together. Now that the agent has the most recent information about its environment it can choose the best assignment to its own variable. First it updates its own view. This must be called now in case the agents support has changed its value since the last iteration or if the environment has changed significantly. Updating the agents view is very simple, first it takes the isgood sent by the agents support and greedily adds an assignment to its own variable, ensuring that the resulting partial solution does not violate any constraints. It then checks to see if using this as its world view will defiantly cause cyclic behaviour. Using this partial solution will defiantly cause cyclic behaviour if all of the following hold, the new and old solutions have assignments to the same variables, the old solution is better than the new solution, the new solution is out of date and the old solution is not out of date. After the agent has updated its own view it then checks to see if one of the other agents would make a better support than the current one. To do so it picks the best isgood out of all of the isgood’s it has received, then compares it with its view. If the isgood is better then it changes its support to the agent which sent the best isgood and then has to update its view again. If its view is better than it keeps its current support. The agent can then tell all its neighbours that it has changed its value. First it checks to see if it needs to send an update to this neighbour. If the assignment to our

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its variable does not conflict with the last isgood it received from that neighbour and its view has not changed significantly since the last message then there is no need to send another one. Then it checks to see if it has received a message from this neighbour after we finished processing messages this iteration. If it did it delays sending a message to this neighbour until it has processed the message. Every time an isgood is sent to this neighbour it tries to make it longer than the last message sent to this neighbour. This is required to prevent cyclic behaviour as well as provides a stronger argument to the neighbour so it is more likely to change its value. It then takes the appropriate length tail of its view to use as the isgood, except if that isgood contains an assignment to this neighbour. If that is the case then the isgood is shortened further so that there isn’t a reference to this neighbour in it. This is because each variable can only be assigned a value once in an isgood. Once it has the final isgood it can calculate the utility its objective function gives to the isgood, the finally it sends the isgood to this neighbour and updates its list of sent isgood’s. Table 1 shows the messages that are exchanged when solving the following CSP. V = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} Di = {α, β, γ} C = {1 ≠ 2, 2 ≠ 3, 3 ≠ 1, 1 ≠ 4, 4 ≠ 5}

OPTIMIZATION IN MULTIAGENT PLANNING The literature on planning, mainly within artificial intelligence, looks at how, given a set of capabilities (or operators) and a goal to achieve (specified as a condition that we seek to make true), we might sequence the application of these operators in order to achieve the goal. While classical planning research goes back almost five decades

(REFS), and range of variants addressing progressively more expressive formulations of planning problems have been developed, our focus will on agent planning techniques (specially given our overall focus on leveraging agent technology to develop the optimizing web infrastructure). The Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) approach to the design and implementation of intelligent agent systems (Rao and Georgeff, 1991) has gained considerable currency over the past two decades. The approach offers anthropomorphic abstractions, where the natural fit with the entities being modelled simplifies design and implementation tasks. Of particular interest is BDI planning, which represents a useful compromise between classical planning (where a drawback is the inability to reactively respond to context changes after plan execution has started) and decision-theoretic planning (where a drawback is the need to recompute plans in response to possibly frequent but insignificant changes to the context). BDI planning, as implemented in BDI agent programming languages such as AgentSpeak (Rao, 1994) and 3APL (Hindriks et al, 1999) and its variant, involves using a library of pre-computed plans and inter-leaving plan execution with sensing and re-planning. A key component of BDI planning is option selection – the choice of which amongst possibly many alternative applicable plans an agent would intend to pursue. Another key component is intention selection – deciding which intention to execute next (each intention is a stack of partially instantiated and partially executed plans, one for each distinct high-level goal). An agent is obliged to satisfy its functional goals – the choices it makes in terms of option and intention selection are therefore the only means available to optimize its behaviour. When selecting amongst alternative plan options, it would be useful to be able to identify the impact of alternative choices on the applicable objective function. Current BDI planning techniques provide little support for this kind of reasoning. We need to devise techniques for representing

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the effects of BDI plan execution, in terms of its impact on constraints on decision variables. In other words, we aim to be able to document how alternative plan choices constrain the values that may be assigned to decision variables. A choice of a plan is the first of a cascading series of decisions – a plan has sub-goals for which there are alternative plan options, and these in turn have lower-level goals, and so on. We need to be able to asses the impact of plan choices not merely over a single step but over a potentially large horizon. This too is a challenge, since choices have to be made in real-time, which might preclude exhaustive search over a potentially large search space. Alternatives such as parametric bounds on the amount of look-ahead might be used, together with heuristic evaluations of the pseudo-leaf nodes thus obtained, in a manner akin to game-tree search. Techniques for supporting optimal plan choices in a single agent setting need to be extended to the collaborative optimization setting discussed earlier, where multiple agents with intersecting spheres of activity need to coordinate their plans in an optimal fashion. In a manner very similar to our discussion of multi-agent optimization, we need to devise protocols where agents exchange arguments to convince other agents make choices (in this case on plan options and intentions) that would enable to them adopt behaviour that would optimize the shared objective function. Once again, such a protocol would need to account for possible misalignment between the local objectives of an agent the global objective, and would have to provide for mechanisms to negotiate appropriate incentives for an agent to make potentially sub-optimal choices. All of these techniques need to account for the more well-known challenges associated with multi-agent planning such as plan interactions (e.g., the plans of one agent blocking the execution of the plans of another), competition for resources and so on. Proposals exist in the literature arguing the case for viewing planning as a constraint satisfaction problem (REF). Similarly, there have been recent

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proposals that permit inter-agent plan coordination leveraging distributed optimization techniques (Ottens and Faltings, 2008). However, there is an overhead associated with any approach that reduces a planning problem to constraint solving or constraint-based optimization problem. The encoding is no longer natural, and thus less accessible to (human) system maintainers, making the process of updating the internals of individual optimizer agents far more complex. We therefore propose to maintain a clear distinction between the knowledge representation schemes used for the optimization and planning components, while ensuring that they inter-operate.

CONCLUSION We have introduced a novel approach to leveraging the power of distributed optimization and planning in devising a global infrastructure for carbon mitigation. This chapter seeks to provide an initial roadmap for research and development in this nascent area. There is much to be investigated in this area. This chapter is a start of a long journey in the science of environment.

REFERENCES Australian Government Department of Climate Change. (2009a) About the national greenhouse and energy reporting act. Retrieved from http:// www.climatechange.gov. au/reporting/. last checked 10.09.2009. Australian Government Department of Climate Change. (2009b). National green house accounts (nga) factors. Retrieved from http://www.climatechange.gov.au/wor kbook/pubs/ workbookjun09.pdf, last checked 10.09.2009. Billiau G. & Ghose A. (2009). SBDO: A New Robust Approach to Dynamic

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Bras, B., & Emblemsvag, J. (2001). Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management. Massachusetts: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Chandy, K., & Lamport, L. (1985). Distributed Snapshots: Determining global states of distributed systems. ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, 3(1), 63–75. doi:10.1145/214451.214456 Change. Retrieved from http://www.ghgproto col.org/programs-a nd-registries, last checked 09.09.2009. Chechetka, A., & Sycara, K. (2006). No-Commitment Branch and Bound Search for Distributed Constraint Optimisation. In AAMAS’06 (pp. 1427–1429). Hokkaido, Japan: Hakodate. cost-saving opportunities. Retrieved from http:// www.microsoft.com/presspass/ Distributed Constraint Optimisation. In Proc. of the2009Conference on Principles and Practice of Multi-Agent Systems, Springer Verlag LNCS. Harvey, P., Chang, C. F., & Ghose, A. (2006). Support Based Distributed Search: a new approach for multiagent constraint processing. In Proc. of the fifth int. joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems, pp. 377 – 383. Hinge, K., Ghose, A., & Koliadis, G. (2009). Process seer: A tool for semantic effect annotation of business process models. In Proc. of the 13th IEEE International EDOC Conference (EDOC2009), I.C.S. Press, Ed., 2009. http://www50.sap.com/businessmaps/6F0C D48E4C 44451C8E0CAB0FD3365716.htm, last checked 10.09.2009. http://www.epa.gov/stateply/resources/i nventoryguidance.html, last checked 10.09.2009. http://www.ilog.com/products/logicnet-plu s-xe/ carbon-footprint/, last checked 10.09.2009.

http://www.omg.org/docs/formal/0901-03.pdf. last checked 10.09.2009. IBM. (2009). Ilog logicnet plus carbon footprint extension. Retrieved from. IPCC. (2006). Ipcc guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. Retrieved from. Koliadis G. & Ghose A. (2007) Semantic verification of interoperational business process Mailler R. (2005). Comparing two approaches to dynamic, distributed constraint satisfaction. in AAMAS’05 Mertens, K. (2006). An Ant-Based Approach for Solving Dynamic Constraint Optimisation. Problems’ PHD Thesis, Katholieke Universitiet Leuven. Microsoft (2009). Microsoft helps businesses manage their carbon footprint and identify Models. In Proceedings of the2007IEEE Services Computing Conference (SCC-2007). Modi, P. J., Shen, W., Tambe, M., & Yokoo, M. (2005). Adopt: asynchronous distributed constraint optimization with quality guarantees. Artificial Intelligence, 161, 149–180. doi:10.1016/j. artint.2004.09.003 Object Management Group. (2003). Business process modeling notation (bpmn). Retrieved from. Petcu, A. (2007). A Class of Algorithms for Distributed Constraint Optimisation. PHD Thesis, Ecole Polytechique federale de Lausanne. Petcu, A., & Faltings, B. (2005). A scalable method for multiagent constraint optimization. In IJCAI 05 (pp. 266–271). Edinburgh, Scotland: Dpop. press/2009/feb09/02-09JDTPR.mspx, last checked 09.09.2009.

http://www.ip ccnggip.iges.or.jp/ public/2006gl/ index.html, last checked 09.09.2009.

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Renison, K. (2009). Carbon footprint modeling with sas for sustainability management: Beyond calculation.Retrieved from http://support.sas. com/resources/pape rs/proceedings09/343-2009. pdf. last checked 09.09.2009. SAP. (2009). Emissions management with sap environmental compliance. Retrieved from. Schiex, T., & Verfaillie, G. (1994). Nogood Recording for Static and Dynamic Constraint Satisfaction Problem. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence Tools, 3(2), 187–207. doi:10.1142/ S0218213094000108 Silaghi, M. C., & Yokoo, M. (2006). Nogood based Asynchronous Distributed Optimisation. In AAMAS’06, pp. 1389-1396, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan.

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The Green House Gas Protocol Initiative. (2006). Programs and registries. Retrieved from http:// www.ip cc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public /2006gl/index. html/, last checked 09.09.2009. United Nations (1998). Kyoto protocol to the united nations framework convention on climate US EPA. (2009). Ghg inventory guidance. Retrieved from. van der Aalst, W., Weijters, T., & Maruster, L. (2004). Workflow Mining: Discovering Process Models from Event Logs. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 16(9), 1128–1142. doi:10.1109/TKDE.2004.47 Yeoh, W. (2008). BnB-ADOPT: An Asynchronous Branch-and-Bound DCOP Algorithm. In AAMAS’08 (pp. 591–598). Estoril, Portugal: Felner A. Koenig S.

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Chapter 13

Business Processes Management for a Green Telecommunications Company Ramesh Balachandran Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT The concept of Green ICT has been in consideration in almost all industrial sectors. The Telecommunication (Telco) sector in one such major area where Green ICT plays a crucial role. Telcos have opportunities and treats due the Green ICT initiatives. This chapter outlines these implications and proposes a Green Telco business model to match with Green ICT initiatives. This chapter then proposes the way and methodology to achieve Green Telco business model through the Business Processes Management based on more practical aspects. The concept of Business Processes Management (BPM) framework is initially discussed in its four stages. This is then followed by the use of this BPM framework to transform and manage business processes for a Green Telco. The business transformation to Green Telco is discussed as part of a BPM framework made up of the Strategy stage, Design stage, Realization stage and the Operational stage. This chapter finally concludes that the Green Telco business model is not a destination but a continuous journey and the BPM framework provides an excellent basis to achieve those Green Telco goals.

INTRODUCTION The present global situation is such that it compels every industry to consider the environment in its decision making process. This environmental context is particularly vital in a Telecommunications (Telco) organization. This is so because the DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch013

Telecom sector is inundated with substantially large amount of infrastructure that consumes large amount of energy – resulting in significant carbon generation. While typical banking, insurance and related service sectors also generate carbon, a large part of that carbon generation is obvious and measurable relatively easily, as compared with the Telecom carbon generation. For example, the desktop machines of a bank are visible to the

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user. Therefore, attempts to change user attitude (such as switching-off the computers when not in use) can and do produce results. Contrary to that, the Telco industry has infrastructure such as transmission towers, large switch gears, substantial wired and wireless relays and myriad servers and other computing equipment backing up the services. These are all unique features of Telecom industry – over and above the ‘normal’ carbon generation through its Billing Support Systems (BSS), Operational Support Systems (OSS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – to name but a few. Therefore, it is vital for the environmentally conscious decision making process in a Telco to be all inclusive – incorporating what happens within and outside of a Telco. A cost effective, environmental friendly and sustainable business model is crucial to the Telecom sector more than any other sector. This chapter explores the challenges that the Telecom industry faces in terms of the environment. This chapter outlines a Green business model that is specific to the Telecom industry. This chapter also discusses the ways of transforming present Telecom business model into a Green business model. This chapter further proposes how business process modeling can be effectively carried out to reduce the harmful effects of carbon by optimizing these processes within a Telco.

GREEN TELCO BACKGROUND The Asian telecoms business & technology magazine, called the Telecomasia, in its December 2009 issue has the cover story 2020 vision that correctly identifies a key theme: “The hardest decisions will not be about technologies, but the business models to monetize them” (2020 Vision, 2009). The telecommunication service provider industries are evolving around technologies and build competitive advantages mainly based on advance technology adaptations. This, however, has negative impact on the industry’s environmental

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credentials. The present environmental context is changing the way a Telco operates – requiring it to reduce cost of new technologies, reduce time to adapting new technology, raising the level of service against new competitors, keeping abreast of the global economical trend and promoting customer service. Each of these aspects, however, require the Telco to be fully aware of the environmental context of its decision making process. Thus, the need to create and adopt suitable business process models to tackle the various aspects of the business and, at the same time be environmentally aware, cannot be overemphasized. A green business model is all about efficient business. Therefore, a green business model will ensure that no money, time or other resources of the Telco are wasted and, at the same time the company derives environmental benefits. For example, measure and control greenhouse gas emission, take future investment decision to replace legacy systems and networks with environmental consciousness (Next Generation Network and Gigabit Passive Optical Network migration over legacy network) and new products & services with enabling effect of ICT. (Kounatze, 2009) Researchs shows that “2% of global carbon emissions come from the manufacture and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and it is growing” (Gartner, 2007) This implies that the 98% of global carbon emissions are by other industries such as travel, transport, hospital and, of course, Telcom. A Telco will have both ICT and non-ICT emissions covering the entire gamut of emissions. There are many opportunities for a Telco industry to limit or reduce the environmental impacts as a socially responsible organization. A green business model for a Telco is to make use of opportunities created by environmental issues and climate changes. A Telco with green business model will be in good position to provide total solution to subsititute services of other industrial sectors, for example, need for travel could be reduce by teleworking or teleconfrencing solution (Faulkner, 2008).

Business Processes Management for a Green Telecommunications Company

The Focus Group on ICT & Climate Change of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has concluded its work in April 2009. This focus group has delivered definitions, gap analysis & standards road maps, methodologies and direct & indirect impact on ITU standards (Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change (FG ICT&CC), 2009). The Study Group 5 of ITU for Environment and Climate Change has already started to work for turning Focus Group’s deliverable into ITU-T recommendations. A Telco that wants to comply with such standards and any governmental regulations is required to adopt a suitable business model. The business model that complies with environmental regulations as well as delivers business benefits for the environmental conscious business decisions could be called the green business model. There are many reasons why a Telco needs to adopt a green business model. For example, governments may impose requlations to industries to declare a Telco’s carbon emission or greenhouse gas emission and may impose taxes for those emission. In that case, Telcos are required to measure and control carbon emissions or greenhouse gas emission or any other environmental damages that may possibly occur due to their activities. A suitable business model supported by suitable business processes is required to help the organization comply with such regulations. Sometimes govenments may offer incentives for industries which are capable enough to measure and control environmental damages due to its operations. This could be an opportunity for a Telco to exploit and it will also benefit to reduce operational expenditures. A Telco that operating business based on green business model may have capabilities to exploite such opportunities. A Telco that is operating on green business model could be called as a Green Telco.The Green Telco model can be established and manged through the Business Processes Management (BPM) framework.This is so because BPM increasingly provides alignement amongst the organization’s capabilities and

its business performanc – paving the way for its business strategy to be aligned with its sustainability goals.

GREEN BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT Achieving Green Telco business model is going to need a business transformation since the way of doing Telco business is going to change drastically. This change will impact on systems, networks, processes, people, culture, and products offerings of the Telco. Aligning changes and coordinating the progress of changes in all those aspects are essential for success of the business transformation. That mean the business transformation must be linked with people behavioral change and organization performance. (Unhelkar, 2009) The business transformation to Green Telco also need to be looked in a holistically so that the every aspect of the organization will be included in the transformation. Furthermore, at the end of the transformation, the ensuing environmental benefits need to be accrued on an ongoing basis to sustain a Green Telco’s environmental strategy. This viewpoint, in a way, indicates that the green business transformation of a Telco is not an end-point but a continuous journey. (based on Burlton, 2001) The processes management framework conceptualized by Roger Burlton in his book “Business Process Management: Profiting from Process” (Burlton R. T., 2001) could be a suitable guide for transforming into Green Telco. This process management framework is capable enough to work with some of industrial best practices such as project management, risk management and human change management. All of these practices together with the processes management framework are require to produce performance driven and stakeholder oriented business transformation for achieving Green Telco.

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The diagram in Figure 1 illustrates the business process management framework with relevant professional practices. The business process management framework consists of four stages – strategy stage, design stage, realization stage and operation stage - and each stage has phases within it. These stages have different perspectives and phases have its own purposes. The business change perspective is meant to be addressed during the first, strategy stage of the transformation process. The process perspective is addressed in the second, design stage of the process – as shown in Figure 1. The process components perspective addressed in realization stage and the process operational perspective addressed operational stage. (Burlton R. T., 2001) All these perspective are necessary to transform and sustain a Green Telco. The major challenge here is to look at how this business processes management framework could be useful to achieve the Green Telco. Therefore it would be better to get the basic understanding of the business process and business process management. It is also better to have some understanding about a reference business processes framework especially for a

Telecommunication service providing industries since the strategy stage involve with the business processes architecture and enterprise architecture.

Understanding a Business Process There are many definitions used for business processes. Davenport (Davenport, 1993) defines a business process as: “a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market. It implies a strong emphasis on how work is done within an organization, in contrast to a product focus’s emphasis on what. A process is thus a specific ordering of work activities across time and space, with a beginning and an end, and clearly defined inputs and outputs: a structure for action.... Taking a process approach implies adopting the customer’s point of view. Processes are the structure by which an organization does what is necessary to produce value for its customers.” A business process is not just a flow of activities but to link all relevent organization capabilities and other business processes. A business process

Figure 1. Business Process Management Framework’s stages & Phases (based on Roger Burlton’s The Process Management Framework, 2001 (based on Burlton, 2001))

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is to start with an starting event that initiate a serise of actions to produce some outputs and a finishing event to satisfy the stakeholder who has initiated it. A business process transform inputs into desired outputs according to given process guilds by using reusable enablers, for stakeholders who cares about business outcomes. A business process contains logical steps which usually go across cross functional organizational units has performance indicators for which measurable objectives can be set for the delivery of product or services to external stakeholder or internal processes. (Burlton R. T., 2001) The Figure 2 illustrates components and contributing elements of a business process. A business process has four major components, two triggering events and consist series of activities. Those triggering events – start event and finish event – give clear boundaries for the business process so that it can give clear business scope rather than organization functional scope. This will enable the business process to have logical steps across organizational untis. Those components are part of organization capabilities which have to be in sychoronouse with business process so

that it could able to produce optimum performance with optimum resources usage. Those business process components are called Inputs, Guides, Outputs and Enablers (in short IGOE). Anything which is consumed or transformed by a business process is called Input. All references that can be knowlede or direcion to tell how a process should be perfromed or when to perform is called Guide. Anything or any information produced or result of a process is called Output. Any resource (system, people, facilities, etc…) which can be used again and again by the process is called Enabler (Burlton R. T., 2001). Business processes in an organization are composed in hierarchical way to show how process are developed through the decomposition steps. This decomposistion will help business processes to align business objectives to operational level. This feature of the business process is key for business transformation to align business model with operational unit and it also enable enterprise performances to trace back to low level operations. A conceptual process decomposition is shown in the process hierarchy diagram in Figure 3.

Figure 2. Business Process components (based on Burlton’s IGOE concept (Burlton R. T., 2001))

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In the Figure 3, the business process hierarchy shows processes decompossions in number of levels. The Level 0 will be defined based on the organozation’s business model, business goals, values streams and envionmental factors. The Level 1 in the hierarchy shows how processes are structures in the end-to-end business processes view to deliver the business objectives. These Level 0 and Level 1 consists of the business perspective of the business process hierarchy. The Level 2 and Level 3 consists of the process perspective of the business process hierarchy. The Level 2 represents sub processes of end-to-end business proceses. The Level 3 shows the activities of sub processes. The Level 4 and Level 5 consists of the operational perspective of business processes hierarcy. The Level 4 represents tasks to be performed under each activities and Level 5 represents steps to be performed under each tasks. These Level 4 and Level 5 could be called systems specifics implementation definisions and

could be automated using information systems. (P.Reilly & Kelly, 2009)

Business Processes Management (BPM) from a Green Perspective As Roger Burlton mentioned in his book Business Process Management: Profiting from Process, “the business processes management is itself a process that ensures continued improvement in an organization’s performance” (Burlton R. T., 2001). That mean Business Processes Management could be considered as an end-to-end Business Process for managing business processes lifecycle in an organization. The Figure 4 illustrates the business process management stages and the relationship with focus points. The strategy stage is a part of strategic planning function of the business transformation. The design and Realization stages are performed by project management function of the business

Figure 3. Business Process Hierarchy (P.Reilly & Kelly, 2009)

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transformation. The operational stage is part of the business as usual function. (Burlton R. T., 2001).

Strategy Stage in Green Perspective The strategy stage focuses on the entire organization as a whole. Thus, the process transformation is considered as a holistic entity rather than made up of small elements (although, they are also considered but later). The strategy stage is to formulate business processes transformation strategy and prioritize process projects in accordance with the enterprise resources capabilities. The critical success factors of the process transformation play an important role in strategizing and prioritization. The strategy stage should deliver process transformation strategy in accordance with the organization transformation strategy with necessary business context. Therefore, when it comes to green strategies, the business context will be carbon reduction – in addition to the goal of achieving business efficiency. This prioritization attempt also provides inputs to the process of transforming other organizational assets such as technology and people so that the enterprise

architectural alignment could be maintained during the transformation. The strategy stage is conducted in two phase which are Define Business Context and Make Architect & Align. The define business context delivers transformation vision, goals and objective with target green business model. The architect & align phase is to formulate business architecture in process view and align it with other enterprise architectures such as application architecture or technology architecture. The phases of strategy stage are shown in the diagram in Figure 5.

Design Stage in Green Perspective The design stage focuses on an end-to-end business process for a selected business process in accordance to the process transformation strategy. The design stage is to come up with the compete design of particular end-to-end business process to satisfy the defined Green Business Model. First and most important is to define the scope and the critical success factors for the process project. It is called as vision phase. Then necessary requirements have to be gathered in the particular process

Figure 4. Business Process Management stages

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Figure 5. Phases of Strategy Stage (Burlton R. T., 2001)

perspective to understand the business requirements for the process project in concern. Once the necessary requirements are gathered and accepted by the relevant stakeholders, the required end to end business process could be designed at least up to activities (Level 3 in process hierarchy) of the business process. This is called renew phase. (Burlton R. T., 2001). Following diagram shows the phases of the design stage. The project management practice is one of the best practices to incorporate with each end-to-end business processes redesign for the Green Telco. Projects usually have four life cycle stages such “Project initiation”, “Project planning”, “Project Execution” and “Project Closure”. In this context, the Design Stage of an end-to-end business process transformation should be performed under the project initiation and planning stages of a project. Therefore during the design stage, a project team should be established and at the end of design stage, the project team should produce a redesigned end-to-end business process and complete project implementation plan.

Realization Stage in Green Perspective In the design stage, the end-to-end business process is designed with process boundaries,

sub processes, activities and tasks. Then every component in the end-to-end process are identified, designed and documented. This will give a blue print of the complete end-to-end business process for the realization stage to develop required capabilities with green perspective and to implement the end-to-end business process. The Realization stage has two phases to realize the business process to make it to operational. The first phase is the Develop phase which is to develop all identified guides, enablers and other required capabilities. The second phase is the Implementation phase which is to get everyone ready for roll out the process. These phases are shown in the following Figure 7. The best way to conduct realization stage is to follow the project execution under the project management practice. There may be few sub projects which could be initiated under this project if the process identifies any information systems or other facilities to be developed as enablers for the process.

Operational Stage in Green Perspective The operational stage focuses on to deliver business performances through business process execution. This stage is to monitor process execution

Figure 6. Phases of Design Stage (Burlton R. T., 2001)

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Figure 7. Phases of Realization Stage (Burlton R. T., 2001)

through defined performance indicators and to take actions to improve process performance. The well aligned business processes with synchronized organization capabilities could deliver better process performance. These process performances are traceable to organizational performance since all organizational capabilities are aligned during the strategy stage. In the green perspective, all transformed business processes should be able align all organization capabilities and people behaviors to suit the Green Telco. This will enable business processes to produce green performance and these performances can be monitored and improved based of green performance indicators. The operational stage will have phases as shown in a Figure 8.

TRANSFORMING AND MANAGING BUSINESS PROCESS FOR A GREEN TELCO The requisite to go for a Green Telco has been briefly discussed at the initial stage of this chapter; the challenge in front of us is how a Telco could transform itself into Green Telco. According to the concepts of business processes and the business process management described in previous sections, the business processes management

framework could be one of most promising tool to face the above mention challenge. The business processes management framework formulated by Roger Burlton could be a flexible & reusable guideline for any industries, (Burlton R. T., 2001) and it has to be adopted suitably for Green Telco initiatives. That means using the Business Processes Management Framework as a guide, it is possible to derive suitable methodology to transform and manage business processes for a Green Telco. The diagram in Figure 9 illustrates how the business processes management framework could be formulated to Transform & Manage business Processes. The strategy stage on top has to focus on entire organization. The design stage, realization stage & operational stage are focuses on end-to-end business processes. Transforming to Green Telco has to perform in a coordinated way of changing all organizational assets such as networks infrastructure, information system, processes and people. That would be ensured in the strategy stage and it oversees the other stages. Each end-to-end business process transformation has to align with other organizational assets by architecting and aligning to achieve Green Telco goals in all aspects of organization. That mean transforming telecommunication networks and Information Systems should be aligned to Green

Figure 8. Phases of operational stage

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Telco business model. For example transforming Telco network in to Next Generation Network (NGN) would reduce 40% energy consumption compare to legacy networks (Faulkner, 2008), Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) would provide 80% energy efficiency over ADSL2+ networks, Paper usage could be reduced by adopting suitable information systems (ITU-T-Focus Group on ICTs & Climate Change, 2009). So that the sustainability of Green Telco could be ensured through managing business processes.

Strategy Stage of the Business Process Management for Green Telco The purpose of the Strategy Stage is to formulate Green Business model and business transformation strategy to achieve Green Telco. It also guides and monitors the transformation of business processes by establishing enterprise architectural components and aligning those with each other. The Define Business Context phase is to define target Green Business Model for the Telco which has to transform into Green Telco. The first step is redefining organizational direction in terms of Green and at the same time it is necessary to identify distinct differentiation the Green Telco should have in the market place. The next step is to identify green goals which could be achieved within the planning horizon of the transformation. These goals have to convert into measurable performance indicators. What should be done for reducing paper consumption and waste? What level of consumption could be reduced? How the Telco could reduce the movement of people? (ITU-T-Focus Group on ICTs & Climate Change, 2009) are some of the questions which could give answers for defining green performance measurements. There are two types of performance indicators could be used which are Key Results Indicators (KRI) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Enterprise carbon footprint, and

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total energy consumption could be few examples of KRIs which says how a Telco is performed in Green perspective. Paper consumption per employee, energy cost per process cycle, carbon emission per process cycle could be few examples of KPIs which tells what to do to increase green performance drastically (Parmenter, 2007). Once the Green Telco direction, goals and performance indicators are defined, the strategy to achieve it has to be formulated. The strategy stage also consists of Make Archtect & Align phase, the first step is to identify all necessary business processes for Green Telco business model and formulating a business processes architecture for the Green Telco. Usually every organizations have own unique processes architecture and the Green Telco also should be have unique buisness processes architecture. Eventhough it is not an easy task, there is a way to achieve this. The TeleManagement Forum (TMForum) has published a reference business processes framework called eTOM (enhance Telecommunication Operations Map) which is for a typical communication service proider organization and it was developed with the collabration of systems vendors and many service providers. The eTOM consists of all most all of the operations a typical Telco could required for its business operation. Therefore the eTOM could be used as a reference business processes framework for a Green Telco and each end-to-end business processes could be identified for Green Telco transformation (P.Reilly & Kelly, 2009). Once an identified end-to-end business process is designed in the design stage, the Green Telco business processes architecture could be updated. That mean, the Green Telco business processes architecture will be updated when a design stage is completed for an end-to-end business process. The organizational capabilities in terms of resources should be considered in the process of preparing strategic plan for transforming into Green Telco. Since resources for business

Business Processes Management for a Green Telecommunications Company

Figure 9. Transform and Manage Business Processes

processes transformation could be limited in any organization, the management should adopt suitable strategy to transform business processes one by one or process group by group. Any organizational change cannot be done overnight. So the processes transformation strategy should be based on organization culture, capabilities, amount of people get affected due to change and the urgency for the change. The method and approach for achieving Green Telco should be established in this phase. There could be many end-to-end business processes which have to be redesigned and implement for achieving Green Telco. That means there going to be many process projects to be performed and these process project also initiate other projects for network, information systems, human resources etc….The programme management parctice could be a best choice since it could manage number of projects in cordinated way and could produce benefits form collective outcomes of projects. (The Standard for Program Management, 2008) In a typical case, if the eTOM process framework is taken into consideration as reference

processes framework, end-to-end business processes in Strategy, Infrastructure & Product (SIP) processes group may more suitable for start with process transformation for a Green Telco business model. It is because these processes may impose changes on fewer people rather by processes in other process categories such as operation or enterprise management. New business plans are developed in the Strategic & Commit end-to-end process, then the product lifecycle management and infrastructure lifecycle management processes enable development of products and network accordingly. Therefore starting from Strategic & Commit, then go for Infrastructure lifecycle management and product lifecycle management processes transformation may produce some early wins as well as impact changes on fewer people & less systems. Since networks infrastructures and products are more to be considered for carbon emission, the end-to-end processes in SIP category (in eTOM) are more important than Operations or Enterprise Management process categories.

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Design Stage for Business Process Management of Green Telco The design stage in the business process management has to perform for all identified end-to-end business processes in the identified priority order in the strategy stage. As per Hammer’s Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM), the design of an end-to-end business process is one of the key criteria to evaluate the maturity of process. It could be audited in terms of Purpose, Context and Documentation (Hammer, 2007). This shows that the importance of the design stage for a business process in the transformation of business processes in Green Telco perspective. The ensuing discussion now examines the modeling of an end-to-end business process design to achieve the Green Telco model. For this purpose, an end-to-end business process for Fulfillment is selected. This fulfillment process is based on the various processes provided in the eTOM framework as an example to demonstrate the design stage in Green Telco perspective. The purpose of the Fulfillment is to identify customers’ needs and fulfill by providing suitable service in right time at right cost in right location.

A typical fulfillment starts with identifying prospective customer, contracting sale and delivering service according to sale contract. The design stage is to identify what to do, how to do it and what information, resources & guides are required. It is necessary to identify suitable boundaries – start event and finish event - for the Fulfillment process. In this context, let’s assume that the starting event as “Lead is identified” and the finish event as “Service delivery to customer is confirmed” for the Fulfillment for the Green Telco. All the components of the Fulfillment have to be defined clearly and compiled into document as an output of the Design stage. The process components inputs, outputs, guides, and enabler should be clearly defined for the end-to-end business process. The Fulfillment process has to decomposed into sub processes and then into activities. Let’s see how these components of Fulfillment should satisfy for the target Green Telco business model.

Decomposition of Fulfillment Once the Fulfillment process boundaries – start event and finish event – are identified, it would

Figure 10. Fulfillment; end-to-end business process with defined boundaries

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be clear for the process design team to identify how the end-to-end business process could be decomposed into sub processes with suitable boundaries. After that each sub processes can be decomposed in to activities. The process design team must have clear consciousness about the Green Telco business model so that the Fulfillment could be decomposed to suit Green Telco business model. These processes decomposition should help to map the defined Green Telco KPIs and KRIs down to the tasks and steps levels of the Fulfillment business process.

Guides for Fulfillment There can be many types of guides necessary for Fulfillment process and some of most important guides are business rules, company policies, performance indicators & targets, and system user manuals. According to defined business context for Green Telco in the strategy stage, the design team has to identify which existing guides needed to be revised and what new guides are required for Fulfillment end-to-end business process. One of the most important guides is the performance indicators for the Fulfillment. The process cost, carbon emission per process cycle and resource utilization could be some of key performance indicators for the Green Telco business model perspective. The critical success factors identified in strategy stage for the Fulfillment can give better idea to identify performance indicators. Likewise necessary performance indicators and measurement methodologies should be identified during the design stage of the Fulfillment process project.

Outputs of Fulfillment The Fulfillment is to transform Leads into Customers with suitable services of the Green Telco. There may be other kinds of outputs from the Fulfillment process such as invoices, used material wastages and contract documents etc…. The process is to

ensure all these outputs are delivered in time, within acceptable cost and with required qualities. The design team has to identify all outputs that are required to produce by the Fulfillment as well as these outputs have to be defined in a ways of minimizing wastages and eco-friendly way of delivering those. For example, electronic form of invoice could be reducing use of papers per process cycle. It is also necessary to identify all the entities either a stakeholder or an internal process which are receiving these outputs and information is required to pass with these outputs to those entities.

Inputs for Fulfillment All consumable items which are transformed into outputs are called inputs to the Fulfillment process. The process design team could able to identify all required inputs for the Fulfillment process from the starting event to the finishing event. Inputs for a process can come from other internal processes or external stakeholders. Any input is subjected to transform in terms of physical change, information change or status change. The process design team should work on to identify what kind of changes each inputs going through and at what stage in the Fulfillment process an input is consumed. This will help to define required inputs qualities in green perspectives, for example online applications for service request may reduce use of paper, online payment for service activation may reduce movement of people, direct delivery of goods to customer from supplier may reduce movement of good and storage cost (Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change (FG ICT&CC), 2009). These information will be helpful during the Realize stage for formulate required quality of inputs and the timing of inputs to deliver to Fulfillment.

Enablers for Fulfillment Enablers for the Fulfillment process are reusable resources which could be people, systems, tools

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and physical resources that enables the Fulfillment to produces its outputs. These enablers are used for every process cycles without consuming it. In the design stage, it is necessary to identify required enablers for Fulfillment process and formulate requirements for developing these enablers. One of the most important types of enabler is the people. The Fulfillment process needs people as process owner and process performers. According to Michael Hammer in the Process Audit Tool kit, “Owner: A senior executive who has responsibility for the process and its results, Performer: The people who execute the process, particularly in terms of their skills and knowledge” (Hammer, 2007). These process owner and process performer have to have defined roles & responsibilities in the Fulfillment process. They must also have better understanding and competencies required for the Fulfillment process in Green Telco perspective. The process design team should define all these requirements so that in the realization stage, people competencies could be developed to satisfy the implemented Fulfillment process for Green Telco. It is required to identify what kind of competencies people required for Fulfillment process of the Green Telco? First People should be conscious enough about the Green Telco business model. They must have clear understanding about policies specially related to “Being Green” and must know the benefits of “Being Green”. They need clearly defined business rules and should aware of end-to-end Fulfillment process. The process owner should have required authority and should know what to manage in the Fulfillment process to produce required performance while being Green. Also should know how to measure performance indicator specially cost and the carbon emission related matrixes. So that the process owner could able to monitor all matrixes of the Fulfillment process and can take actions to improve the Fulfillment process performance for Being Green. The process performers’ skills and knowledge required to being green should be identified and plan to develop those

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should be established in the design stage of the Fulfillment process project. The requirement for skills and knowledge mostly depends on policies, business rules, process flow and handling systems that are defined for the Fulfillment process to suit Green Telco. The next important enabler for the Fulfillment process is Information and Management systems. The process design team should identify which systems are required for the Fulfillment process to make it efficient. The process design team should able to prepare system configuration requirements for identified systems. While preparing the configuration requirement, following criteria could be considered for being Green in Telco business. What activities are to be performed by using systems in a Fulfillment process cycle? What information or data require for each activity for each Fulfillment process cycle? Those who answering to these questions should have following objectives in mind while defining system requirements for the Fulfillment process of a Green Telco. 1. Any particular data should be captured only one time and should not be duplicated in systems. 2. Only required data should be retrieved from database only at the required time. 3. Any tasks performed by systems should be able to perform right at the first time. These kinds of considerations will enable reduce system utilization time, save storage capacities and reduce energy consumptions for a particular Fulfillment process cycle. Also it is good to define some measurable performance indicators to measure data duplication, data usage, task cycle time, task repetitions for a particular task and energy consumption per task. These could be helpful to calculate the carbon emission or carbon footprint produces by systems for a single activity of the fulfillment process in a single process cycle. These performance indicators can contribute to calculate carbon emission of

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an Activity in the Fulfillment process. Therefore the system configuration requirements should clearly mentions all activities, all necessary data to perform activities which are those will be read, write or read & write and required validations to eliminate data duplications & anomalies. The other types of enablers are tools and facilities that are use in the Fulfillment process should be identified. The requirements of these facilities are to be identified for a single Fulfillment process cycle then it can be scaled out for required amounts. In this case, it is necessary to consider energy consumption, paper consumption per process cycle and waste produce per process cycles so that it would be easier to come up with suitable facilities that could support the Green Telco goals.

Realization Stage of Business Process Management for Green Telco The realization stage is performed to develop process components with process – in – focus. The focus process here is the Fulfillment. The blueprint for developing capabilities and implementing process is the output of Design Stage. This blueprint says what guides to be developed, what systems to be developed or configured and what capabilities of people are to be developed to get ready to roll out the business process. The first phase of the realization stage is to develop identified guides and enablers of the Fulfillment process. The development of guide includes defining or redefining business policies to suit the Green Telco. It is then possible to formulate required business rules in align with Green Telco business model. It is also necessary to prepare measuring criteria and methodology for performance indicators which are identified in previous stages. The development of systems and facilities should be based on documented requirements and necessary testing should be done with measuring defined performance indicators.

The next phase of the realization stage is the implementation phase. In this phase, every stakeholder involving with Fulfillment should be made aware about processes and the business objectives. Especially the process owner should be made aware enough to manage the Fulfillment process and should be granted proper authorities in Green Telco perspectives. Process performers are to be properly train about the fulfillment process as well as Green Telco business model objectives to gain required skills and knowledge. Once people capabilities are developed and systems are ready to handle, the pilot implementation of Fulfillment could be done to observe how process performance is delivered for the Green Telco. Based on results obtained from pilot implementation, the fulfillment process could be rolled out for business operation of the Green Telco.

Operational Stage of Business Process Management for Green Telco In the realization stage, every process components are developed and put in its place for process execution. In the operational stage, the end-toend business process - Fulfillment is in operation and starts to deliver business performances. The process owner takes the ownership of the Fulfillment execution and responsible not only to deliver process performance but to make improvements in process performance. The first phase is to monitor business performance. In this phase, the Fulfillment process owner plan process execution and monitor process performance. The process owner able to measure process performance though defined performance indicators. So the process owner must be consciousness enough about the Green Telco since the process owner is responsible to handle any exceptional cases and making decisions to solve those exceptional cases which are critical for Green Telco goals. In the second phase called improve process performance, the process owner to take

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actions to improve process performance to achieve Green Telco goals. In Green Telco perspective, the most important performances are related to process cost, process carbon emission and waste produced by the process. The process owner could be able to see whether performance of the Fulfillment need to be improved or other processes linked to Fulfillment needed to be redesign since the design of the Fulfillment could shows links between fulfillment and other processes. This is the key fact for next cycle of design and realization stage of the BPM framework to start in the process of transforming towards the Green Telco business model.

FUTURE DIRECTION This chapter is to give how business processes management could be used to transform a Telco into a Green Telco business model. There are some key factors that really needed for achieving Green Telco. A standardized criterion for measuring carbon footprint of a business process has to develop so that carbon emission for each process cycle could be identified. This could enable every process to mark carbon footprint on it and ultimately this will enable an organization to monitor its carbon emission through process performance.

CONCLUSION The purpose of this chapter is to look at the ways of using business process management framework for transforming a Telco into Green Telco. The necessity for going towards green business model is highlighted in this chapter. The basic concepts of business process and the business processes framework are discussed to provide some understanding about those concepts. This chapter describes how the business processes framework stages can be used to achieve

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Green Telco goals. In the strategy stage, what factors have to be consider when preparing strategy for Green Telco transformation, what approach could be used and how it could be used to align organizational asset are discussed. In the design stage, an example end-to-end business process is taken into consideration to show how the design stage could be conducted for a Green Telco. The realization stage and operational stages are described based on the example end-to-end business process but not as much details as design stage. This is because the design stage is the most important stage and if the process design is done properly the realization and operational stages could be followed according to the designed blueprint of the process. Achieving the Green Telco business model is not reaching a destination state rather it is a continuous journey. The business processes management framework could be a vehicle for the journey to the Green Telco.

REFERENCES Burlton, R. T. (2001). Business Process Management: Profiting from Process. Indianapolise: SAMS Publishing. Davenport, T. (1993). Process Innovation: Reengineering work through information technology. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Faulkner, D. D. (2008, October 28). Focus Group on ICTs & Climate Change. Retrieved January 2010, from ITU web site: http://ties.itu.int/ftp/ public/itu-t/fgictcc/readonly/ Informative%20 presentations%20related%20to%20the%20FG/ Green+ICT+-+ITU+input+Faulkner+Dra ft+L. pdf Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change (FG ICT&CC). (2009, 5 15). Retrieved January 2010, from ITU: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/focusgrou ps/climate/

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Gartner. (2007, April 26). Gartner Estimates ICT Industry Accounts for 2 Percent of Global CO2 Emissions. Retrieved January 2010, from Gartner Newsroom: http://www.gartner.com/it/ page.jsp?id=503867 Hammer, M. (2007, April). The Process Audit Tool Kit. Harvard Business Review,1–14. ITU-T-Focus Group on ICTs & Climate Change. (2009, May 15). Retrieved January 2010, from International Telecommunication Union: http:// www.itu.int/oth/T3307000006/en Kounatze, C. R. (2009). Towards Green ICT Strategies: Assessing Policies and Programmes on ICT and the Envionment. Organnization for economic Co-operation and Development (www.oced.org). Parmenter, D. (2007). Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing and Using Winning KPIs. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc. P.Reilly, J., & Kelly, M. (2009). The eTOM: A Business Process Framework Implementer’s Guide. TM Forum. The Standard for Program Management. (2008). Project Managment Insititute, Inc.. Unhelkar, B. (2009). Business Transformation Process. Cutter Executive Report, 12(10). Cutter Consortium. 2020Vision. (2009, December). Telecomasia, p. 18.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Business Process Management (BPM): Business processes management is itself a process that ensures continued improvement in an organization’s performance. Business Process Hierarchy: Shows a view of how processes are developed through the decomposition steps. eTOM: enhance Telecommunication Operations Map, which is released by the TeleManagement Forum (TMForum). Fulfillment: This is one of end to end business process in eTOM business processes framework. It is responsible for identifying customer’s needs and provides suitable solution and delivered in right time at right location. Green Business Model: A business model which supports businesses to manage it with environmental consciousness and help businesses to being green by reducing damages to the environment. Green Telco: A type of Telecommunication company which adopt green business model to be a environmental friendly company. Key Result Indicator (KRI): A type of performance indicator which show how it has been performed in the past. Key Performance Indicator (KPI): A type of performance indicator which is more critical type of performance indicator for current and future success of the organization. KPI tells what to do to increase performance drastically. Process Owner: A senior executive who has responsibility for the process and its results Process Performer: The people who execute the process, particularly in terms of their skills and knowledge.

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Chapter 14

A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Bharti Trivedi DDU Nadiad, India

ABSTRACT An organization’s future increasingly depends on its environmental sustainability, so it is vital to equip present business architecture with a framework for environmental compliance. A business needs to understand the Green policies, processes that create waste and emissions, enablement of efficient use of resources, metrics for monitoring the greening of the organization and implementation of environmental strategies. This chapter will provide a review of environmental challenges and understanding of the contribution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in environmental strategies of a business and its sustainable management. A consolidated, systematic approach to the redesign of a business enterprise and to forming an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS) is presented. The methodology includes five activities: Need for reengineering the business architecture, Map and investigate the processes, Design ERBS, Implement reengineered process and employ ERBS and improve continuously to monetize emissions.

INTRODUCTION Advanced and smart ICT applications are keys to effectively fight climate change, protect biodiversity and manage natural resources (www. oecd.org). According to Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, and Sander, Danish Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, to achieve

a low-carbon economy, the development and deployment of new technologies is essential. Gurria suggested that there is need to expand the pool of available technologies and their potential to mitigate climate change and then to reduce the cost of new or emerging technologies that will be non-polluting or reduce emissions. Together, they will help to lower future marginal cost of mitigating climate change.

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch014

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies

As per Sander (www.oecd.org) it is very important to focus on Green ICT to boost beneficial ICT applications across all spheres of society. This paper will identify the opportunities and the best practices by ICT to form an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS) for environmental management, energy efficiency, resource management and form a cleaner strategy for business with minimal waste. This paper finds the feasibility of business reengineering and overall impact of the magnitude of ICT to reduce energy consumption, measure the emissions and increase resource utilization.

ICT AND THE ENVIRONMENT: LITERATURE REVIEW Firstly, in order to understand the role of ICT to reengineer the business process to attain the ERBS, an understanding of the direct carbon footprints of the ICT sector is required. Secondly, the quantifiable emissions reductions that can be enabled through ICT applications in other sectors of economy (Tang, 2008) need to be understood. Finally, the new market opportunities and product innovations are considered. The ICT industry has a very significant role to play in reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions (Tang, 2008). According to the estimates of Gartner the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry accounts for approximately 2 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (www.gartner.com). International telecommunication Union (ITU) (portal. unesco.org) stated that ICT can play a vital role in combating climate change. They can be used for remote monitoring of climate change and gathering important scientific data - for instance, using telemetry or remote sensing by satellite. Furthermore, smart technologies can usher in a whole new generation of energy-efficient products, notably in next-generation networks (NGN).

According to the Worthington (2009) these emissions could achieve a 15% reduction in overall emissions by 2020.

NEED FOR REENGINEERING THE BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed (Hammer & Champy, 1993). As highlighted by Unhelkar and Dickens (2008) that the rapidly growing importance of environmental issues requires business enterprises to take immediate responsibilities for “Green” initiatives because business enterprises have greater resource available to them, as compared to rest of the society. Furthermore, their activities have greater impact on the environment (Unhelkar & Dickens, 2008). There is a need to reengineer the business operations, process and services according to the environmental parameters because with the increasing recognition that man made CO2 emissions are a major contributing factors to global warming (Murugesan, 2008). Enterprise, government and society at large now have an important new agenda: tackling environmental issues and adopting environmentally sound practices. As business and ICT move closer to a convergence then ever before, business will access technology resources not just through a common infrastructure or application platform, but through the transparent business methodology (www.business-ecology.org). This requires ICT to no longer be viewed as a utility but rather an integral and vital asset of a business to form an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS). Figure 1 illustrates the internal and external factors that compel an organization to adopt “Green” policies and strategies.

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Figure 1. Internal and External Factors of an organization to adopt Green Policies

MAP AND INVESTIVATE THE PROCESS TO BE REENGINEERED In a research survey conducted by the authors, it was observed that there are various attributes and factors which are to be mapped with the ‘Green’ strategies. A comprehensive enterprise-wide ‘Green’ business strategy must be understood to minimize the environmental impact of the business. Proper actions and the strategies are to be defined for the following: 1. Reduction of energy consumption in an organization Increased energy cost and growing awareness about climate change have pushed “Green issues” into corporate boardrooms (Dejong et al 2009). Most business can make significant energy saving by making changes that cost little or nothing to implement. The carbon trust (www.carbontrust. co.uk) estimates that most business in the service sector can cut their energy bill by 20% to 30%, while those in industry can make saving from 5

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to 10%. Encouraging people to change behavior can lead to big savings. Energy management process requires analysis, improvement, control and monitoring of the business carbon emissions. This process includes an initial survey, analysis and presentation of recommendations, design and specification of reduction equipment, project financing support, installation, commissioning and ongoing energy monitoring. In a survey conducted by the authors, it was found that more than 74% of the people agreed that their organization is having more energy consumption. Their organization wants to adopt the ‘Green’ policies in order to reduce the energy consumption of the organization as shown in Figure 2. 2. Reduction of carbon footprint in an organization The key of business sustainability is energy efficiency and the reduction of emissions. Organizations will have to devise a carbon abatement strategy, consider energy efficient measures,

A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies

Figure 2. Energy Consumption can be reduced by adopting Green policies in an organization

monitor, assess and manage their carbon emissions. As highlighted in Figure 3, 62% respondents responded that they want to implement Green policies in their organization to reduce the carbon footprints of their company. 3. Reduction of operational cost in an organization Operating costs and expenses are those costs every business has that are not considered directly related to a company’s first line of business. Operating costs include sales and marketing, research and development, administrative costs and other costs which does not involve directly in the business (www.articlesbase.com). As shown if Figure 4, 75% of respondents want to adopt the ‘Green’ policies in their business to reduce the operational cost of the organization. 4. Improvement of reputation of an organization Green policies offer organizations many benefits, including enhancement of public image, increase in marketability, reduction of operation costs, and improvement in employee morale. These activities are not merely environmentally

Figure 3. Green policies in an organization will result in reduction of Carbon Footprints in an organization

responsible but they can also drive business opportunities. According to the Global CEO study (www.935.ibm.com), chief executives believe that energy and environmental activities can help differentiate their brands and burnish the reputation of their products and services. Enhanced brand image can deliver market permissions and drive customer loyalty. Figure 5 shows that less than 24% respondents do not agree while approximately 76% respondents agree that Green Policies will improve the reputation of their enterprise. 5. Meet government regulations and legislation A high environmental performance as an international business standard and foundation for competitiveness is becoming mandatory for the business environment globally. At present the ICT sector accounts for 2% of global emissions, the equivalent of the airline industry, according to Gartner Research (www.gartner.com). The compliance of ICT with existing and new legislation makes the ICT sector going Green by default, such as the European “Eco design for energy Using Products” (EUP) directive (http://ec.europa.

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Figure 4. Green Policies must be adopted to reduce operational Costs in an organization

Figure 5. Green policies will help to improve the reputation of an organization

eu). According to HP’s environmental strategy manager, Zoe McMahon, “Legislation like the EUP will cut the tail off the worst performers, ensuring that ICT’s current impact is reduced.” UK government has set a target for the central government office estate to achieve carbon neutrality by 2012. The UK has an overarching target to reduce Green house gases by 26% or more by 2020 and by at least 60% by 2050 (www.gbc. co.uk). The power consumption should be lowered, including outsourced contracts and services. Emissions can also be reduced through changes in business processes and working practices. Figure

6 shows that because of the government rules and regulations the enterprises are adopting Green Policies, 70% respondents believe that government and legislation plays an important role in adopting the Green policies in the organization. 6. Meet sustainability goals of an organization Organizations that pursue a Green agenda have a substantial opportunity to simultaneously reduce costs. The study and findings by SSA & Company (www.reuters.com), a global operations consulting

Figure 6. Green Policies are adopted to meet government regulations and legislation

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firm found that businesses were able to improve their performance by an average of 30-40% in areas such as energy consumption, recycling, and waste reduction, saving those companies tens of millions of dollars annually by adopting Green policies in their business. The results found by the survey conducted by the authors also shows that more than 72% respondents want to implement Green strategies in their organization in order to meet sustainability of the organization as shown in Figure 7.

in their organization help to increase revenue as shown in Figure 8. The graphs and the corresponding observations clearly indicate that a new architecture vision and Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy is required for the current business which encompasses the Green business architecture, Environmentally Intelligent ICT architecture and new technology architecture which gives eco-friendly opportunities and solutions with proper migration policies.

7. Increase revenue and profitability due to Green Initiatives

DESIGN ERBS

Companies today are considering every resource available to adopt more Green standards in an effort to not only reduce their carbon footprint, but also to increase revenue. A 2009 study by Forrester Research, Inc., “The Rise of the Green Enterprise: A Primer for IT Leadership’s Involvement,” notes that in the “Economist Intelligence Unit’s February 2008 survey of more than 1,200 business executives, companies that rated their Green efforts most highly over the past three years saw annual average profit increases of 16 percent and share price growth of 45 percent” (Carotenuto, 2009). 65% respondents agreed that Green policies Figure 7. Green policies can help to meet sustainability goals of an organization

According to Unhelkar and Dickens (2008) an ERBS enables the business to leverage its ICT domain in order to reduce the environmental impact of its activities. This includes judicious use of software applications and systems, modeling and modification of its business processes, and efficient storage and retrieval of content – all of which influence and change the attitude and the working style of the organization’s employees and customers. According to them the initiators of the ERBS are the government rules and regulations, social and political pressure on the organization

Figure 8. Green policies are taken up to Increase revenue in an organization

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and the self initiated initiative of the organization to adopt Green policies and practices. In addition to this definition of ERBS, Unhelkar and Trivedi (2009) added new dimensions to ERBS. According to them for the implementation of an ERBS in any business three major factors play very important role. They are the initiators for the ERBS, the process in the organization and the understanding of the technology needed to implement it is required. The aim of ERBS is to add the ability to measure, monitor, sense and gauge the Green House Gas emissions due to the processes of the present business strategy, map them against the environmental benchmarks and reengineer the current business processes to make them environmentally sensitive. Further Unhelkar and Trivedi (2009) illustrated the five layered architecture of ERBS. This layered framework of ERBS aims at sketching a business model for measuring, analyzing and further reducing the carbon footprints in an organization. According to them ERBS can be attained in an organization with the help of three actors they are the devices (mobile devices, wired devices, wireless devices, PDA, laptops etc.), the environmental web service contents (carbon emission related information) and the network technology services (different networks that provide transmission capability and the network service providers). The complete, effective and the efficient use of IMS enabled web services in an organization will help the organization to design a business strategy which is environmentally intelligent. This research paper aims at an intelligent reengineering of businesses to migrate from wasteful to resourceful technology. This chapter so far discussed that ICT applications not only contribute to direct environmental improvements but more importantly in aiding the development of clear, self-sustaining resource efficient technology systems.

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ERBS ARCHITECTURE The business must have access to all the necessary underlying architecture it requires from ICT without effect to the business services it needs to supply (www.business-ecology.org). A high knowledge needs for linking up individual action to environmental impact is required to build Environmentally Intelligent (EI) architecture which covers adoption and distribution of ERBS, competencies and protocols that enable novel application opportunities for business systems. ERBS will help steer business process reengineering from an environmentally conscious vantage point, where business rules can be altered to support best practices in sustainability. A four layered architecture of ERBS is designed in Figure 9. This ERBS architecture has four layers viz. Business Layer, Emission Monitoring Layer, Development Service Layer and ICT / Network Layer. Layer 1. Emission Monitoring Layer: ICT must lead quality initiatives, drive efficiency and revenue as well as provide measurable and clear returns on investment furthermore aiding in the formation of ERBS. It is not enough to view ICT as a means to an end, but rather as a driving force of “Green” business. There has to be a very strong relationship and communication mechanism for ICT and business alignment. Emission Measuring Product Innovations: ICT has a key role in creating systems/technologies which systematically and continuously may regulate the energy consumption; inform the business about the energy consumption and force for eco-consumption. According to Anderson (2008) there is a requirement of the systems which provide direct and immediate feedback on the energy consumption / activities and its environmental impacts so as to allow the business to use resources efficiently i.e. at the right time, the right space and the right amount. Advanced ICT devices such as mobile gadgets and wireless devices can be developed and further programmed to measure the Life Cycle

A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies

Figure 9. Four Layered Architecture of ERBS

Assessment (LCA) of the movable equipment or machinery. A life cycle assessment (LCA, also known as life cycle analysis, eco-balance, and cradle-to-grave analysis) is the investigation and valuation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused or necessitated by its existence Green chargers (http://en.wikipedia. org). This will lead the business to recognize the environmental impacts and thus encourage for the systemic consideration of design performance with respect to environmental objectives over the full product life cycle. Piloting renewable energy solutions to innovate the eco friendly products can be used to reduce climate change impact and improve the operational performance of an organization. Below are the few examples of initiative for emission monitoring using software and web services: A. My Company Fleet - Fleet software company is developing a new software product that

will enable fleets to measure the environmental impact of every journey their employees make. As fleet influencers increasingly look at other forms of transportation to minimize the cost to the environment and save their companies some money, this new software will give them the tools to make quick and exact decisions. They will be able to compare the differences in CO2 output of traveling by car, airplane, bus or train using real-life data. MyCompanyFleet is in the process of obtaining information from third parties, such as train and bus times (www.fleetnews. co.uk). B. Carbon management Tool - An initiative to help employers reduce costs by lowering their carbon emissions. This is an online service which aims to help companies to calculate and understand the sources of their carbon emissions. It has been claimed it will help companies to manage emissions, cut

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costs and improve their competitiveness no matter what their size (www.rte.ie). C. Falcon’s CO2 Emissions Calculator - An example of a web package that can be used in web applications. Global warming is linked to the amount of carbon and other Green House Gases being emitted into the atmosphere. Falcon’s CO2 Emissions Calculator enables to calculate online CO2 emissions for more than 9200 cars (www.falconsolution. com). Like cars aircraft engines release a wide range of pollutants that can directly or indirectly raise atmosphere temperatures. To calculate aircraft’s CO2 Emissions information regarding the type of aircraft, number of seats on board, transported cargo, distance and more is required. The above examples or tools are widely used to measure the carbon emissions of the automobiles. In a similar manner there is a requirement to measure the carbon emissions from the business products, process and services. To create environmental values in an organization Trivedi and Unhelkar (2009) have explained 4 M’s. These four M’s are Measure, Monitor, Mitigate and Monetize as shown in Figure 10. Measure and Monitor Emissions in a business: In a business a wide array of emission sensors, measurement platforms, monitoring and inventory systems, and inference methods will likely

be needed to meet basic carbon emissions measurement requirements of the future. Measurement systems must be developed that can establish baselines and measure carbon storage and emissions changes on various scales, from individual machines to large processes of the business. Improved measurement and monitoring technologies and capabilities can help to identify and guide future opportunities for technology development. According to Richard Simpson, the director general of the electronics commerce in Industry in Canada, “ICT’s crucial role in economic recovery is the key to unlocking the opportunity of Green growth (www.oecd.org). Standardized metrics are required for the net CO2 reductions. According to Anderson (www.oecd.org), there is a need for developing common standards to monitor measure and verify carbon emissions of a baseline defined in advance. Microsoft is currently developing the Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for MS Dynamics AX dashboard. The software is designed to help companies track their energy consumption and emissions by making environmental data collection a normal part of business (www. microsoft.com). The advanced ICT technologies and techniques such as SOA, web services, mobile technologies, semantic networks, cloud computing, IMS can play an important role in the development of monitoring and measuring emis-

Figure 10. Four M’s defined in the emission monitoring layer

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sion tools for an organization which is discussed in the next section of the chapter. Mitigate And Monetize Emissions In The Business: Sustainable operating practices offer an organisation competitive and environmental benefit – boosting the corporate social responsibility (CSR) credentials (globalservices.bt.com). As a result, organizations will be better placed to meet current and future legislation, and take advantage of business and organisational opportunities. Reducing the carbon footprints of a business can be attained by accurate measurement of the carbon footprints of a business. This will help the business to identify the ways of operating more efficiently and thus reducing the costs and CO2 emissions. Layer 2. ICT / Network Layer: As ICT has become critical to most of the businesses, the need for infrastructure expansion becomes critical as well. ICT support many business functions and most require massive computing capacity (Ryan, 2008). Reducing the energy use of ICT equipment can be a part of wider organizational strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of an organization (Steer, 2007). Significant energy and financial savings can be made by choosing the right ICT equipment and configuring and using it in energy efficient ways. A. HP lab tests have found that configuring PCs with the optional 80 percent efficient power supplies along with the other ENERGY STAR 4.0 hardware requirements can reduce total system power consumption as much as 52 percent, translating into an average annual cost savings ranging from $6 to $58 per PC (Palo & Calif, 2007) B. HP Labs has initiated research that uses nanowire photonics to increase the efficiency of solar cells by more than 20%. While offering efficiency comparable to solar cells used in space applications, they can be manufactured at the cost of the cells used in pocket calculators (www.hpl.hp.com).

C. IBM Research is developing new, nonvacuum, solution-based manufacturing processes for CIGS (Copper-Indium-GalliumSelenide) solar-cell modules, aimed at increasing current efficiency from 6%-12% to around 15%. The goal is to reduce the cost, minimize the complexity and improve the flexibility of producing solar electric power (Stancich, 2009). D. Broadband networks and cyber-infrastructure can go a long way in helping reduce the US carbon footprint. Estimates of 15-20% overall reduction of CO2 are possible through virtualization and dematerialization using broadband networks (Hatch, 2009). An ERBS with mobile technologies can help organizations achieve socially responsible goals of reducing Green house emissions, reducing physical movement of men and materials, and recycling materials – to name a few (Trivedi & Unhelkar, 2009). Virtual collaborations between businesses create further challenges for environmentally responsible strategies as they make it difficult to identify the precise contributors to Green house emissions and pollutions. Virtualization represent a radical rethinking of how to deliver the services of data centres, pooling resources that are underutilized and could reduce emissions by 27% - equivalent to 111MtCO2e (www.idc.com). The advantage of virtualization is the energy saved when many servers running multiple application loads at low utilization can be combined on one physical piece of hardware. The demand for data center capacity worldwide has led to a sharp rise in IT costs and a steady increase in carbon emissions (Forrest et al 2008). It is suggested that businesses can double the energy efficiency of their data centers through more disciplined management, reducing both costs and Green House Gas emissions. Virtualization software such as VMware and SWsoft, coupled with consolidation analysis software such as

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CiRBA, can enable people to maximize server production while providing the same reliability and functionality (Ryan, 2008). There are new server management tools for better control and visibility into the capacity usage (Lan & Hywel, 2007). Mobile devices will contribute a smaller share of telecom devices footprint in 2020, if predicted power consumption reduction from smart charges and standby modes materialize (www.gartner. com). Standby chargers are those that turn off when the device is not connected Overall decrease in the power consumption of telecom network per user is expected, owing to the adoption of efficiency measures and is included in 2020 footprint. For example mobile infrastructure technologies currently available include network optimization packages which can reduce energy consumption by 44% and solar –powered base stations which could reduce carbon emissions by 80% (www.encyclopedia.com). Layer 3. Development Layer A. Legislation, Government Protocols and Rules: A high environmental performance as an international business standard and foundation for competitiveness is becoming mandatory for the business environment globally. At present the ICT sector accounts for 2% of global emissions, the equivalent of the airline industry, according to Gartner Research (www.gartner.com). The compliance of ICT with existing and new legislation makes the ICT sector going Green by default, such as the European “Ecodesign for energy Using Products” (EUP) directive (http://ec.europa.eu). According to HP’s environmental strategy manager, Zoe McMahon, “Legislation like the EUP will cut the tail off the worst performers, ensuring that ICT’s current impact is reduced.” Developing a smart energy and environmental policy is a complicated process. That is why many companies have yet to develop any type

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of comprehensive policy. Those entities that do strive to craft overall energy and environmental stewardship plans often take siloed approaches to the issue (ftp.software.ibm.com). Government themselves are subject to pressure to develop and implement smart environment and energy policies. Since government actions are so visible, their ability to set positive examples may enhance their credibility in regulating and pressuring organizations under their jurisdictions. Government lead training programs can provide the basic knowledge and understanding to help organizations quantify and manage their Greenhouse gas emissions. Government bodies can review the ISO 14064-1 requirements for determining GHG emission boundaries, quantifying an organization’s carbon emissions and removals and identifying specific company actions or activities aimed at improving GHG management. These programs can include requirements and guidance on inventory quality management, reporting, internal auditing and the organization’s responsibilities in verification activities. The requirements of ISO 14064-1 relate to existing GHG schemes can be understood by the business and other key protocols and standards, including ISO 14001 and the World Resources Institute / World Business Council on Sustainable Development Greenhouse Gas Protocol. B. Web Services Trivedi and Unhelkar (2009) discussed Environmentally Intelligent Web based Business Strategy System (EIWBSS). They emphasized that web services form the basis of structural architecture and functional procedures of an organization that help it become aware of environmental factors. An EIWBSS further enables the organizations to judiciously use the web services, within the Web 2.0 technologies domain, in creating and modifying their business processes, utilizing their information silos by connecting them, and providing real time reporting features to decision

A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies

makers – all with the specific goal of achieving environmental responsibilities. IBM’s Green Sigma defined SOA as a five step process which starts with the definition of the emission, establishing a baseline for measurement and metering, deploying a carbon monitoring dashboard console, process optimization and finally management / compliance (Dzubeck, 2008). Carbon emission monitoring is a dynamic real time concept thus web services being dynamic in nature can be used to measure, control and optimize carbon emissions, further they can be employed to track and account for carbon credits. Figure 11 elaborates how web services can be used in the business environment to measure, monitor and finally help for the process optimization with respect to the environmental factors. With the help of the tools such as Green Web Services (GWS), business can begin to develop, implement, monitor, measure, mitigate the emissions and monetize the process (Trivedi and Unhelkar, 2009). Process improvements not only will decrease the business cost, but also improve the compliance and performance. GWS promotes

Web services interoperability across platforms, applications, and programming languages through the use of standards refinement and integration into profiles. Using GWS presents an organization an opportunity to take advantage of environmental services offered by others (Business of the same type, Government rules and regulations) and the opportunity to make their business Green Layer 4. Business Layer: The primary actors of the business layer are customers, suppliers, competitors and government. Analyzing the roles and relationships of the different actors participating in the business is an important step in better understanding the ERBS. Figure 12 illustrates the four actors of the business layer. The roles of each actor are discussed below: A. Supplier: One of the major goals of ERBS is for suppliers to meet all environmental laws and regulations. However, it is sometimes difficult for businesses to find a costeffective method to go Green. ERBS encourages suppliers to conserve resources and cut energy use by providing:

Figure 11. Web Services in business environment

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Figure 12. Actors of Business Layer

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Technical assistance and the identification of process, products and services improvements that can lead to cost savings and better environmental results. Training suppliers and employees to apply the environmental tools. Increasing the dialogue between business and suppliers. Auditing suppliers well documented model for carbon emissions. Building an environmental criterion into supplier contract conditions. Keeping records of suppliers environmental questionnaires Evaluating supplier environmental audits and assessment Accessing standard approach for government rules and regulations Helping improve supply chain Management and implement Green Supply Chain Management. Identifying cost savings opportunities that can be passed on at suppli-

ers’ discretion to large manufacturers, increasing global competitiveness. ◦⊦ Improving the relationship between organization and suppliers while providing information about suppliers’ environmental performance. B. Customer: ERBS aims to form a smart business by conserving resources and saving money. The benefits of operating in the ERBS and create more eco friendly business must be promoted among customers. ERBS can brand the organization as well as satisfy the customers. Through the Green policies, products and services of a business, ERBS educate and encourage customers about the importance of going Green. Customers can be provided with information on how they can use products or services in a Greener way. C. Competitor: Adopting Green policies and strategies is the new way of doing business and essential for maintaining competitive edge. The coalition of business and Environmental Intelligence (EI) can be done by

A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies

◦⊦

Modifying the current business processes to incorporate environmental needs. ◦⊦ Creating power management policies to reduce energy consumption. ◦⊦ Using of SaaS in reducing carbon emissions. ◦⊦ Modifying the current ERP system to meet environmental challenges. ◦⊦ Product innovation which comprises not only its products and services but also the manner in which it differentiates itself from its competitors. Product innovation is mainly based on the value proposition, the offerings and the benefits the firm proposes to its customers. D. Government: Government rules and regulations in implementing the environmental measures can influence an organization to adopt Green policies. Some of the protocols are discussed below: ◦⊦ Kyoto protocol: The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012 (http://unfccc.int/kyoto_ protocol/items/2830.php). ◦⊦ Green House gas protocol: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage Greenhouse gas emissions (www.ghgprotocol.org).

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ISO 14001: 2004: The ISO 14000 family addresses various aspects of environmental management. The very first two standards, ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 deal with environmental management systems (EMS). ISO 14001:2004 provides the requirements for an EMS and ISO 14004:2004 gives general EMS guidelines (www.iso.org). An EMS meeting the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 is a management tool enabling an organization of any size or type to: Identify and control the environmental impact of its activities, products or services, and to Improve its environmental performance continually, and to Implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonstrating that they have been achieved.

OPPORTUNITY AND SOLUTIONS: Today Green ICT isn’t just about more energyefficient ICT hardware, server consolidation, or setting up racks in the datacenter to reduce heat waste. Green technology has come a long way with business finding new and innovative ways to leverage ICT to conserve resources, cut waste, and save money. Many of these new corporate environmental initiatives have the dual benefit of fostering environmental responsibility while reducing costs. Companies who employ ERBS will understand that it can maximize revenue, manage employee performance, reduce costs, streamline operations and increase profits, and can also help businesses reduce their carbon footprint. ERBS is a strategy for both business and environmental purposes. For

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the proper implementation of ERBS the following four steps are required: A. B. C. D.

Identify and Implement improvements. Initiate emission measurement. Review performance against target. Improve process continuously.

RESEARCH OUTCOMES To achieve efficient learning and coordination on eco innovations across different economic sectors and other actors in the innovation system, new solutions for an eco efficient way of organizing our production and consumption at more systematic level are required. Proper migration planning from the current business system to ERBS based business is required. The key findings of this research are: A. Greening of business is essential. B. ICT is the key driver of business Green efforts and new ICT initiatives can become a part of strategy to reduce power consumption. C. Government rules and regulations can influence the organizations and business to go Green. D. SaaS (Software are a services) is a vital tool in reducing the carbon emissions as well as help in process reengineering to reduce waste. E. There is a need to access new sources of capital, energy or raw material.

MAJOR ISSUES AND CHALLENGES The findings the report “Green IT in Australia” show that in 2009 Green IT in Australia exists more in idea than in reality (Philipson, 2009). There are high levels of intended usage, but generally, a low level of action is seen. It has been found in the research that around 65% of the organizations

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are aware of their environmental footprints. Organizations are aware that by reducing their carbon impact they can save money, earn consumer trust and stakeholder confidence, comply with government regulations, get new market opportunities, and boost efficiency and productivity. In spite of this knowledge the organizations have some prejudices and limitations listed below: A. Most organizations currently lack both the methodology and metrics to undertake defensive and suitable power consumption and carbon footprint measurement programs. B. Technologies such as virtualization, thin clients etc are implemented of other reasons not for environmental reasons. C. Lack of capital for investment in the integrated automation and ICT technologies required. D. Poor awareness of the businesses for reducing energy use through optimization. E. Reluctance to install eco friendly technology for fear of disrupting production process and losing revenue. F. A lack of capacity and skills to operate advanced automation technologies. Out of date infrastructure that can’t run new systems

CONCLUSION “The leading edge of sustainability is companies that have realized that Green isn’t simply about improving the bottom line; it’s a way of growing the top line through new markets, new business models, And that’s where technology companies can lead the way not just in inventing new solutions, but new systems.” (Makower, 2008), Green used to be associated with the color of money, today it also refers to the responsible, sustainable energy practices Green budgets are on rise and ICT finds itself leading the way in corporate Green policies, which is not surprising given the important role that it plays in company’s operations (Green IT

A Framework for Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies

Report 09). Green business practices that maintain and sustain good environmental quality are increasingly becoming vital component of economic competitiveness. A committed approach to environmental improvements in an organization can be achieved by using the ICT technologies in an environmentally intelligent manner. This chapter has discussed that the adoption of ERBS by business needs to be complemented by training for employees, customers and suppliers. Clear and ambitious targets should be set by an organization to reach environmental compliance. This chapter throws the light on the fact that operational improvements in an organization can reduce carbon emissions through regular measuring, monitoring of the emissions as well as by reengineering the business using ERBS. The objective of the future research is two fold. One relates to the migration of current business to the ERBS based business and strategies with respect to the environment. The final objective is to build an agreed Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy in the global business system world which will assess ways to reduce the carbon footprints of an organization uniformly across the globe.

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Business Operating cost. Article Base(Oct 2007). Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http://www. articlesbase.com/fi nance-articles/businessoperating-cost--230991.html Co2 emission calculator(n.d.). Falcon solutions. Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http://www. falconsolution.com/ co2-emission/ Carotenuto, D. (2009). Propelling Green initiatives with BI, Business Intelligence.Retrieved September 12, 2009, from http://www.ebizq.net/ topics/bi/f eatures/11624.html Dejong, E., Dick, B., Reingold, B., Abbotts, N., & Wilson, K. (2009), Green Policies: Understanding and addressing compliance risks. Perkins Coie, Legal Council to great companies. Retrieved September 1, 2009, from http://www.perkinscoie.com Dzubeck, F. (2008). Are you ready for Green SOA, Network world. Business InfoWorld. April 2008, http://www.infoworld.com/t/business/ar e-you-ready-Green-soa-440?page=0,1 Eco-design of Energy Using Product (EuP). (n.d.). Environmentally-friendly design of Energy-using Products, framework Directive for setting eco-design requirements for Energyusing Products (EuP), European Commission, Enterprise and Industry. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/eco_ design/ index_en.htm Environmental sustainability dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics AX.(n.d.). Microsoft Environment. Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http:// www.microsoft.com/environment/ business_solutions/articles/dynamics_ax.aspx Forrest, W., Kalpan, J. M., & Kindler, N. (2008). Data centers: How to cut carbon emissions and costs.McKinsey Quarterly, http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Data_centers_ How_to_cut_carbon_emissions_and_costs_2255

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Gartner estimates ICT industry accounts for two percent of Global Co2 emissions, (2007), Press release, Gartner Newsroom, April 26, 2007, Stamford, Retrieved August 16, 2009, from http:// www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=503867 Government Green IT Strategy – Greening government’s ICT, GBC’s management summary,(July 2008), Retrieved August 12, 2009 from http:// www.gbc.co.uk/downloads/ Green_it_whitepaper.pdf Green IT 09 Report (2009) – Regional Data United States and Canada. Survey Results May 2009, Symantec Enterprise Green Growth Strategies prompt calls for better Emissions measurement.(n.d.). Green Electronics daily, 2 (103), June 2009, Editorial and business headquarters, Washington, Retrieved July 23, 2009, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/41/42929337.pdf Hammer, M., & Champy, J. (1993). Reengineering the corporation: A manifesto for business revolution. London: Harper Collins. Hatch, D., (2009)., Green IT/ Broadband and Cyber infrastructure. Telecommunications, May 2009 How can you build a sustainable organization: Measure, monitor and reduce carbon emissions, BT.;(2009). BT Group site. Retrieved August 22, 2009, from http://globalservices.bt.com/BusinessContentA ction.do?N=4294967153&col1Id=42 94966754&col2Id=Measure_monitor_and_reduce_carbon_emissions_business_needs_all_engb&title=Measure,%20monitor%20and%20 reduce%20carbon%20emissions HP Labs Innovation Research program. (2008). Research Topic, Labs HP. Retrieved August 22, 2009, from http://www.hpl.hp.com/open_innovation /irp/2008_HPL_IRP_Research_Topics_Americas.pdf

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ICTs, the environment and climate change, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, Organization for economic cooperation and development, Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http://www.oecd.org/document/3/0,3343,e n_26 49_34223_41731587_1_1_1_1,00.html Improving business through smart energy and environment policy(2009) IBM. February 2009, Retrieved August 13 2009, from ftp://ftp.software. ibm.com/common/ssi/sa/ wh/n/ciw03052usen/ CIW03052USEN.PDF ISO- Management Standards. (n.d.). International organization for standardization. Retrieved August 21, 2009, from http://www.iso.org/iso/ management_ standards.htm ITU highlights the role of ICT in reducing Green House gas Emissions.(13-12-2007) Geneva. Retrieved August 14, 2009, From http://portal. unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25710&URL_ DO=DO_P RINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201. html Lan, Yi., & Hywel P. T. (2007). A Review of Research on the Environment Impact of E-Business and ICT. Environment International, 33(6), 841–849. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2007.03.015 Life cycle assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved 21, August 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Cycle_Assessment, [Accessed Dec, 11, 2008] Makower, J. (2008). The state of Green Business 2008, Greenbiz.com, Retrieved July12, 2009, from http://makower.typepad.com/joel_mak ower/2008/03/where-are-all-t.html Ministers stress the role of ICTs as part of global green growth agenda, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, Organization for economic cooperation and development, Retrieved August 31, 2009, From http://www.oecd.org/ document/41/0,3 343,en_2649_34223_4317405 7_1_1_1_1,00.html

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Murugesan, S., (2008), Can IT go Green - Introduction, Cutter IT Journal. Cutter Consortium, 21(2), February 2008, Cutter Consortium, USA New software allows fleets to measure all journey emissions(6 May 2009) Fleet News 2009.Retrieved June 22, 2009, from www.fleetnews.co.uk Palo, A., & Calif., (March 12, 2007), HP Delivers Industry’s First PCs to Meet ENERGY STAR 4.0 hardware requirements.http://www.hp.com/ hpinfo/newsroom/ press/2007/070312b.html Philipson, G. (2009). Green IT and sustainability in Australia 2009 – Attitudes, Plans and Actions. A white paper by Connection Research Protocol, K. (n.d.). UNFCCC. Reteieved August 12, 2009, from http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/ items/2830.php Retailers drive profits through Green initiatives.(Jun 30, 2009) SSA and Company study Finds.Reuters. Retrieved September 2009, from http://www.reuters.com/article /pressRelease/ idUS172832+30-Jun-2009+MW20090630 Ryan, E. J., (2008), Building Sustainable IT. Cutter IT Journal 21(2)_, Cutter Consortium, USA Stancich, R. (2009), Green ICT: banking on a software solution to climate change.Climate change corp, climate news for business, 16 sep 2009, http://www.climatechangecorp.co m/content.asp?contentid=5727 Steer, T., (2007), Green ICT –Taking the strategic approach. SOCITM Consulting.Retrieved from September 2007, www. Socitm.gov.uk/consulting Tang, M. (2008), Smart 2020 Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age, Climate group, Global e-sustainability Initiative (GeSI) The Enterprise of the future.(2008) IBM Global CEO study.Retrieved September1, 2009, From http://www-935.ibm.com/service s/us/gbs/bus/ pdf/ceo-study-executive-summary.pdf

The Green House gas Protocol Initiative.(n.d.). The foundation for sound and sustainable climate strategies.Retrieved August 12, 2009, from http:// www.ghgprotocol.org/ Trivedi, B., & Unhelkar, B. (2009a). Semantic Integration of Environmental Web Services in an organization. Selected in ICECS 2009 Conference to be held at Dubai 28th to 30th Dec 2009, to be published in IEEE Computer Society Journal Trivedi, B., & Unhelkar, B. (2009b). Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological & Social perspective (2nd ed., pp. 432–440). Published in USA by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global). Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, A., (2008).Lessons in implementing “Green” Business Strategies with ICT. Cutter IT Journal, 21 (2), February 2008, Cutter Consortium, USA Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009a). Extending and Applying Web 2.0 and beyond for Environmental Intelligence. In Murugesan, S. (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0 and X.0: Technologies, business and social Applications. Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009b) Managing Environmental Compliance: A techno-business perspective SCIT Journal, IX, August 2009 Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009c), Merging web services with 3G IP Multimedia systems for providing solutions in managing environmental compliance by business.ITA09, Wrexham, UK, 8th Sep 2009 to 11 Sep 2009. Virtualization continues to see strong growth in second quarter. IDC Report, Oct 2008, IDC Press release, Retrieved August 22, 2009, from http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?c ontainerId=prUS21473108

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Web tools to help calculate emissions.RTE News (29 April 2009) Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/04 29/emissions. html Worthingtom, T. (2009), Innovating to lower costs and carbon emissions with ICT. http://www. tomw.net.au/technology/it/G reen_it_innovation/ index.shtml Yankee estimates until 2011. (n.d.). Retrieved August 25, 2009, from http://www.encyclopedia. com/doc /1G1-196880319.html, 2008

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Environmental Intelligence (EI): is an intelligent use of business tools and technologies which can lead an enterprise to a green enterprise. Environmental Management System (EMS): is a management tool enabling an organization of any size or type to identify and control the environmental impact of its activities, products or services, to improve its environmental perfor-

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mance continually, and to implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonstrating that they have been achieved. Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS): is a business approach that incorporates environmental factors in it. Green Policies: provides environmental parameters to reduce the environment impact of business operations and promote sustainable development to the organization Green ICT: is the study and practice of using computing (ICT) resources efficiently. Green Business Architecture: A four layered architecture deals with keeping organization’s environmental footprint small, reducing waste, measuring, monitoring, mitigating and monetizing the carbon emissions. Green Web Services: are the web services endeavors to play a significant role for measuring the carbon footprints of a business and thus help the enterprise to take effective action to shrink the carbon footprints

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Chapter 15

Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy Bharti Trivedi DDU Nadiad, India Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia

ABSTRACT This chapter aims to investigate and expand the role of mobile technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS). An ERBS with mobile technologies can help organizations achieve socially responsible goals of reducing green house emissions, reducing physical movement of men and materials, and recycling materials – to name a few. Organizations are electronically collaborating globally through the medium of the Internet and by employing service-oriented architectures. This electronic collaboration amongst large number of globally spread businesses creates a collaborative business “ecosystem” that is also virtual. Virtual collaborations between businesses create further challenges for environmentally responsible strategies as they make it difficult to identify the precise contributors to green house emissions and pollutions. This chapter delves deeper into the role of mobile technologies in creating and enhancing what can be considered as Environmental Intelligence (EI) – extending business intelligence with mobility for a Green enterprise.

INTRODUCTION This chapter discusses the effect of mobility on a collaborative business ecosystem. Previously, before the advent of the Internet connectivity, business implied physical commercial transactions between entities that were in close proximity with each other. This business understanding was DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch015

particularly true before the advent of the ability of the Internet-based services to enable electroniccommerce and, more recently, mobile commerce. Today, however, communication network structures and the corresponding concepts of business collaboration (Ghanbary and Unhelkar, 2009) are perceived as effective means to cope with the challenges of 21st century business transactions and growth. This business growth today is characterized as global and competitive (Gothlich,

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy

2003). The globalization of business organizations is achieved by the communication revolution that is based on the use of computers, their peripherals (such as monitors, printers, storage devices) and strong, standardized and reliable networking and communications systems. Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) play a vital role in the development of any collaborative system. However, this phenomenal and ever increasing use of networks and computers also puts increasing demands on energy consumption. Computers and other IT infrastructure consume significant amounts of electrical energy, placing a heavy burden on the electric grid and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emission is creating an imbalance in our environmental equilibrium. In addition, computers pose severe environmental problems both during manufacture and at disposal. (Unhelkar and Dickens, 2008) However, most studies related to green house gases and the strategies to reduce their emissions and effect on the environment are focused on the ‘hardware’ aspect of ICT. There is a significant need to study, understand and change the ‘process’ aspect of ICT in business. This process aspect of ICT in business comprises ‘how’ we use the people, processes and technologies of business which can reduce the carbon footprints. The need to persuade the business activities of an organization, including the way in which its people and technologies and employed and its processes are carried out from an eco-friendly viewpoint is vital. However, creation of such eco-friendly business processes can succeed only when it’s a part of the overall environmentally responsible business strategy. Mobile communications integrated in the business strategy can help to attain an environmentally responsible strategy. Mobile devices require less power and generate less heat than full workstations or PC’s, their cooling cost is also less than the PC’s, so the company enjoys the benefits of powering a small unit,. Using mobile devices instead of conventional PCs would lower energy consumption by 51 percent and reduce

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CO2 emissions, concludes a recent study by the Fraunhofer Institute (www.windowsfordevices. com). Mobile capabilities not only can improve the style of the business by automating process and promoting more reliable connections but also will be a step ahead towards green environment. The business-specific applications can be developed for the mobile devices and solutions that target improvements in areas including email and Internet access, automation of paper-based processes, training and professional development, asset management, employee safety, inventory management, collaboration and security. This will result to an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS). This chapter discusses and incorporates the use of mobility in the overall greenhouse gas emission is creating an imbalance in our environmental equilibrium of an organization.

SIGNIFICANT FACTORS IN THE CREATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ERBS Mobility is increasingly playing a vital role in the development of environmentally intelligent (EI) systems. Mobility helps to strengthen the social as well as business relations and also have positive environmental aspects. Mobility infrastructure planning is an increasingly crucial aspect of environmental planning, essential to boost regional economies and social relations, as well as critical for environmental impacts involved. Structuring inherently complex issues and problems is a major challenge of mobility planning. Today, therefore, a major issue is the setting up of system architectures that take into account the impacts of the mobility system on environmental and social quality (Borri, Camarda and Liddo,2005). Mobile devices and their applications are no longer a mystery for any one. Now a days the corporate world believes in virtual or mobile employment strategy where workers

Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy

need not be present at the company offices. The employees have an access to the crucial business intelligent information system and according the authorities analyze, plan the finance and make strategies. Dial up connectivity and wireless access have empowered most (Business Intelligence) BI users to access, analyze, and share information if they are sitting at their desks or to access data from their home. The need of the business community for mobile Business intelligence is obvious, and if business personnel are not physically moving from one place to another and are not using any vehicle then we can say that network mobility is a one successful step in going green. Mobile business intelligence plays a vital role to attain an ERBS as location independently strategic business objectives can be met without any physical movement. Therefore, ICT must have its own set of mobile BI capabilities to maintain and sustain the overall environment (Imhoff, 2005). Figure 1 shows significant factors which help in the creation and implementation of an ERBS.

Business Intelligence (BI) and Mobile Data Warehousing (DW): Business Intelligence (BI) can be thought of as a bunch of applications and techniques to collect, store, process, analyze and access the data to achieve fast and better business decisions. Decision support system (DSS), online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, forecasting, data mining are mainly used tools in BI. An ERBS combined with BI can result in a centrally driven architecture that integrates with an enterprise’s operation. This centrally driven architecture of data organization will help to reduce the number of data centers, and reduced number of data centers is directly proportional to reduction in the consumption of the electrical energy. Business Intelligence plays a very significant role in Decision Support System. Strategic decisions on data integration with the help of data warehousing, an operational data store, multiple data marts, metadata repository, Online analytical processing (OLAP) can help the company to make better decisions with best utilization of the resources (Enterprise own resources as well as outsourced resources) (Moss, 2006). Mobility enhances the data sharing among the business col-

Figure 1. Significant factors in the creation and implementation of an ERBS

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laboration and thus enables location independent data sharing. Once the data set is retrieved, the logical and physical designs should be modeled and reviewed in such a way that the access time becomes less and also the data which is extracted very often should be stored in cache data repository to minimize the data retrieval time. (Slebodnick,2006) To access data using mobile devices web must be considered as a platform so that database as well as web services can be accessed through the mobile device. Using optimal search techniques will reduce the burden on the mobile networks. Data warehouse on the web can make the data available anywhere, anytime monitoring the carbon emissions by reducing the paper use and minimizing the walled offices. Thus this strategy will implemented in the corporate business ecosystem will result in an ERBS. Software Concepts (Operating System Design): Computers are an integral part of any business and they emit CO2 while working, so there should be environmental sensors and intelligent control to monitor remote computing system. A wireless control is preferable to generate an alert in response to the occurrence of a monitored event. Mobile device management solutions can support various devices in different operating systems. The mobile devices supported by mobile device management can be used for asset management, marketing, outsourcing, security and information distribution and other business collaborative activities location independently. This can ensure performance and availability of the corporate system by real time access of the enterprise. The integration of the operating system on the mobile devices provides real time access of the enterprise; enable the managers of the enterprise to take better decisions, increase customer service and satisfaction and thus increases business productivity and profitability. This leads to an ERBS as the execution of the corporate activities will be handled by the mobile gadgets which emits less CO2 as compared to desktop computers as discussed in the previous section of this chapter, it also reduces

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the unnecessary movement of men and material and result in green computing. Hardware Considerations: Desktop computers and its peripherals are manufactured with many toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, zinc etc. Hardware companies who manufacture computers have to think in the direction to make a computer which help to reduce environmental impacts. Energy use is an important issue for computer manufacturers. Rising energy prices, concerns about energy security and increasing pressure from society to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to fossil fuels, have heightened the demand for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. (Unhelkar and Dickens, 2008). The huge demand of power and it’s extraction from hydrocarbons (ex: coal) lead to accumulation of carbon dioxide and green house gases which in turn lead to the dramatic increase in our Earth’s temperature, and is threatening life on the long term(Fares 8, 2008). Mobile computers such as notebooks, sub notebooks, and palmtops require low weight, low power consumption, and good interactive performance (Douglis, Cáceres, Kaashoek, Krishnan, Li, Marsh, Tauber, 1994). Mobile Computing technology is helping schools, businesses and organizations worldwide dramatically reduce carbon emissions by cutting energy consumption up to 90 percent. With more than 500,000 virtual PC seats deployed in 70 countries, mobile computing has cut electricity consumption by 88 million kilowatts per year, compared with the same number of PCs. This represents a reduction of 55,000 metric tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere In addition to the electricity reduction, the computing through the mobile devices using virtualization also greatly reduces the amount of e-waste that piles up in landfills every year. According to the Environmental Impact Assessment Review (July 2005), between 1994 and 2003, PC disposal resulted in 718,000 tons of lead, 287 tons of mercury, and 1,363 tons of cadmium being placed in landfills. As PC penetration continues

Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy

to increase worldwide, the e-waste problem will only get worse. Fortunately, the mobile devices are smaller, lighter and contain far fewer electronic parts compared to a PC. In fact, mobile gadgets reduce e-waste by 98% because they weigh less than a typical PC. (www.hardwarezone.com)

Green Mobile Mobility promotes green IT and adds environmental intelligence to a collaborative business ecosystem and that is why Green mobiles are also required to be designed and manufactured so that they can give something back to the environment. Firstly, mobile companies should encourage user to keep their current phone rather than upgrade when they switch to them. The line rental of green mobiles should be cheaper than that of current mobiles available such as Orange, Vodafone, T-mobile and O2. Now there is a need to go mobile with green technology. Recently Green Mobiles are set to be the first to introduce the new “Sunflower Phone” to the UK. It’s a totally biodegradable phone that has a built-in seed that will grow once the phone is planted in the ground. The Nokia 3110 Evolve uses what Nokia is touting as a ‘bio-cover’, the casing is composed of 50% recycled material and packaging made from 60% recycled material. Nokia has announced a new eco-friendly mobile phone at an event in Amsterdam. The phone, 3110 Evolve, is said to be made out of bio-sourced materials, which means the material is fifty percent renewable. The Nokia phone 3110 will use a high efficiency charger, which saves energy. (www.hp.com) Discussion Forums through Blogs on Mobile Devices: Green Blogs are one of the free form of exchange of information and ideas globally. The advantage of green blogs is to enable interaction without use of physical paper such as journals or magazines, and at the same time the discussion is current. However, there can be issues related to unedited material that has not been reviewed. There are geographical limits on the world of

green blogs as well as the community behind the green blogs is relatively narrow. Green blogs are attracting more readers than just most environmentally oriented print magazines. The free form of information exchange between the readers can become an important part of public dialog on environmental matters. (www.iprimus. com.au). Communication with blogs on mobile will enable a user to exchange ideas about the enterprise, give new suggestions, give feedback and share the new concepts of the business anywhere, anytime. Green Broadband programme is one more initiative taken by broadband providers for Green IT. Green Broadband program allows broadband customers to minimize the greenhouse impact of their internet usage. Some companies are offering Green Broadband to new or existing customers for less than a dollar per month extra on green broadband plans which encourages the customers and the company to do more plantations so that the trees soak up greenhouse emissions. (InformationAge,2007) Use Of Web 2.0 And Web 3.0 Technology In Mobile Devices: Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 are the new trends in the communication technologies which are preparing a virtual world wide communications network that goes beyond the basic task of communication (Unhelkar and Trivedi, 2009). The characteristics of these technologies are rich user experience, user participation, dynamic content, web standards and scalability (Best, 2006). The mobile platforms using these web services will increase the user communication, help the user to get incremental updates about the data, facilitate the user to provide feedback to the service provider or the enterprise at any given instance of time and place. This will improve the functional capabilities of an organization in the real time.Using the web services provided by Web 2.0 and further Web 3.0 technologies, users or executives will be able to execute all their services when roaming as well as from their home networks (Jaokar, 2005). Implementation of Web 2.0 technologies on the mobile devices will reduce the energy

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use as mobile gadgets consume less energy than desktop computers as well as virtualizes the server resources leading to a sustainable and environment friendly system. M-Supply Chain Management: The use and application of IT will continue to require significant investments in energy generation for their operations (Sarkis and park, 2008). Energy efficiency and carbon neutrality are likely to become growing factors as a source of business ecosystem. Mobile - SCM (Supply chain management) enables business transactions to be location independent, reduces unnecessary inventory and transportation of material. The Internet has already had a tremendous impact on the field of supply chain management. SCM with Internet successfully lower costs, add value to the businesses as well enable location independence and thus helps the environment go green. The mobile flow of information can further create more sourcing opportunities for raw materials; combining the long term effects such as reduction in stocks and the holding costs. The emerging standards like Web Services (XML, SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL) on mobile gadgets can simplify information exchange and business processes within the enterprise and between supply chain partners; Mobile device -enabled supply chain helps companies • • • • • • • •

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Reduce unnecessary inventory Increase in working capital reduce administrative overhead decrease the number of hands that touch goods on their way to the end customer eliminate obsolete business processes Help in cost-cutting and revenue-producing benefits speed up production and responsiveness to consumers garner higher profit margins on finished goods

As Internet diffusion and mobile phone penetration continue their explosive increase, SCM design must accommodate the accompanying change in customer preferences and expectations as well. Adding web and mobile functionality to its ERP solutions to enable Internet ordering for its customers, web-based call centre support, and membership in B2B (Business to Business) Web exchanges will benefit a corporate with better environmentally sound approaches like vendor assessment, total quality management, lean supply and collaborative supply strategies by the analysis of relevant consumer attitudes, legislation and concepts in environmentally-sound management (life-cycle analysis, waste management, recycling, product procurement, etc.). Mobile Supply Chain Management (MSCM) can encompasses many strategic issues such as number, location, and size of warehouses, and distribution centers and facilities; partnerships with suppliers, distributors, and customers; product design impact; and technology infrastructure. Tactical processes such as demand planning, forecasting, sourcing, production, third-party logistics, scheduling, inventory and transportation can be handled by the mobile devices supported by mobile ERP’s. Most applications of wireless technologies today involve the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices for material handling in distribution warehouses, moving inventory, cycle counting, shipping and receiving, and direct store delivery programs. Typical requirements for wireless in supply chain logistics management are mobile dispatch, mobile order tracking, package tracking, instant messaging, on-the-spot mobile printers, exception alerts, virtual real-time vehicle tracking, DoT reporting, fuel tax reporting, yard management, cross docking, converged voice, data, GPS, route and vehicle information and integration to various data collection devices, eg barcode, RFID, electronic signatures.

Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy

Improving efficiency and accuracy in logistics and material handling using the mobile technology leads to better demand management. AMR Research revealed that companies that excel at demand forecasting have 15% less inventory, 17% stronger order fulfillment, and 35% shorter cash-to-cash cycle times than typical companies. (Subramanyam, 2008). Outsourcing Mobile Applications: Outsourcing in business helps to lower firm cost, conserves energy and make more efficient use of manpower, money and other resources as well as technology. Using mobility for product design and manufacturing will be a collaborative step for ERBS. Outsourcing using mobility solutions can ensure the user that enterprise applications will be accessible to the organization on an anywhere, anytime basis. This will result in an increase in productivity, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. The organization can also benefit from reduced response time. (www.outsource2india. com) Outsourcing mobile applications can include functions such as voice and data management, and bring in new users and extend them technical support. Outsourcing in this sector can better manage mobile services and reduce costs, and also provide enhanced service to customers. (Redman, 2005) Users can potentially manage those mobile services better and reduce costs. If there are several hundred mobile users of an enterprise, and it costs $100-$200 per year to support each user, but outsourcing that support would cost $60-200 per user, then there’s a potential gap where an enterprise can save some money by outsourcing. (Parizo, 2005) Companies can also provide better service to their users, and maybe even provide more services because costs are lower. Plus it lets the organization to focus on key issues and take advantage of personnel strength, which is focusing on IT. Thus outsourcing mobile applications not only saves money but also effectively saves energy by providing the services to the user without actual transportation.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS This chapter outlines an overall strategic approach to environmentally responsible business strategies (ERBS) together with mobile technologies. Different applications of the mobile technologies aim to build on and expand Environmental Intelligence are discussed. Incorporation of mobile and communication technologies in collaborative business ecosystem can add Environmental Intelligence to the current Business Intelligence. This chapter has focused on the concept of applying mobility and mobile technology tools to business applications so that they will directly and indirectly benefit the environment. This chapter argues for strategic incorporation of environmental considerations in the reduction of the green house gas emissions. Such strategic incorporation of mobility in environmental consideration is termed “Environmental Intelligence” (EI). The corporate sector is still in infant stage with respect to EI, but with the increasing business awareness of the adverse effect of business activities on the environment it is mandatory to enforce the organization’s software systems to be environmentally intelligent. This chapter has suggested some techniques such as recycling the hardware, using the operating systems which are able to monitor the hardware so that there is less CO2 emission in the environment. Providing green Broadband for the data communication and using green mobiles can be way to start with. Data bank is growing vigorously with the expansion of the businesses that is why handling database in such a manner that we can get a solution to our query in the most optimal time is required, data rescheduling is required so that data which is used frequently by the users is kept in a data cache and other data can be handled separately. This chapter has suggested many ways in which mobility can be applied at different phases of business to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Green Broadband is a very effective way to use Internet. Saving environment and going green is

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essential to save our earth but it may be expensive. New measures, rules should be set by the Government, Business organizations and society to move toward Green IT. Techniques which are EI like green broadband, green mobile, green blogs, m-SCM etc as discussed in this chapter should be incorporated in all collaborative business enterprises to go Green.

HP. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.hp.com

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India, C. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.compareindia.com Introducing Australia’s first green broadband. (n.d.). Retrieved Jan 10, 2008 from Jaokar A.,(2005). Mobile Web 2.0:Web 2.0 and its impact on the mobility and digital convergence. Dec 25, 2005 Madanmodan, R. (n.d.). (Second Annual European Logistics Summit in Brussels), Internet –enabled Supply Chain Management ushers in a new wave of “c-commerce” for collaborative business. Retrieved Feb 3, 2008 from http://www. techsparks.com/Internet-enabled-supply-chainmanagement.html Moss Larissa T. (August,2006). Data Strategy: Survival Guide for the Information Age. Cutter IT Journal Outsource 2 India. (n.d.). Retrieved from www. outsource2india.com Parizo Eric B., (2005). The case for mobile outsourcing, News Editor 28 Sep 2005 | SearchMobileComputing.com Phillip, R. (n.d.). Mobile Outsourcing a good option. Retrieved Feb24, 2008 From http://www. blogsource.org/

Role of Mobile Technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy

Ravi, S. (2008). (n.d.). Mobilizing Supply Chain Management -. Dataquest., (February): 11. Sarkis J., & Park, J. (n.d.). Understanding the Linkages between IT, Global Supply Chains, and the Environment By and. Cutter IT Journal 21 (2). Slebodnick, J. (August, 2006), Bridging the canyon:Introducing Business-Oriented Practices to an Environmental data project, Cutter IT Journal. Telecome, P. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.iprimus. com.au Unhelkar & Dickens (2008). Lessons in implementing Environmentally Responsible ‘Green; Business strategies with ICT’. Cutter IT Journal, 2008

Unhelkar & Trivedi. (2009). Extending and Applying Web 2.0 and Beyond for Environmental Intelligence. In Murugesan, S. (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0 and X.0: Technologies, Business, and Social Applications. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Windows for deviced. (n.d.). Retrieved from www. windowsfordevices.com

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy (ERBS): is a business approach that incorporates environmental factors in it. Environmental Intelligence (EI): extending business intelligence with mobility for a Green enterprise

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Chapter 16

The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health Walied Askarzai Academies Australasia, Australia

ABSTRACT Global warming and climate change are growing issues of concern for businesses, governments and individuals. This is so because business activities in particular, based around the philosophies of ‘profit maximization’, play a crucial role in the harming of the environment. Therefore, achieving a sustainable future is also a responsibility of businesses. Furthermore, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and its components are directly responsible for production of significant amount of electronic waste and Green House Gases (GHGs). This chapter will examine and analyze the negative impact of ICTs waste on environment and health. The chapter will also discuss how ICTs can be used as a tool to mitigate climate change and assist businesses reach a sustainable green goal.

INTRODUCTION ICTs can negatively have an effect on our environment and our health. This is not only so because of its operational usage but more so because of the electronic waste generated at the end of the useful lifecycle of an ICT gadget. As one observes, the use of ICTs is growing in multiples - engrossing all aspects of our lives: at work, at home, in the air, on the water and in many shopping centres, to name but a few. ICTs have helped us solve many DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch016

challenges too – such as connecting us globally, entertaining us in every possible way, and helping us to be more productive, efficient and effective. However, this valuable industry has a negative side too and that is its contribution towards the GHGs emission. The operational aspect of ICTs generate regular Carbon dioxide (CO²) from the myriad electronic devices we use in homes and offices, and so do the industrial-strength data centres feeding organizations and individuals alike with information. Conversely, despite having a challenging aspect to it, ICTs can be an enabler to alleviate climate change and global warming.

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The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health

According to (Climate hot map organisation, 2001; and union of concerned scientists organisation, 2001) the signs of global warming are as follow; rise of sea level, melting of glaciers and increase in average temperature of earth’s atmosphere. These changes are caused partially by nature and to some extent are caused by GHGs emission as a result of industrial activities in the past two centuries. Improving environmental performance, reducing GHGs and tackling global warming are high on the list of global challenges that must be addressed urgently by governments, industries, businesses, and individuals alike. Some governments have already introduced schemes to tackle these challenges as part of their economic stimulation packages, such as Australia, Germany, and USA. The scope of this chapter is limited to the literature review of a number of reports prepared by major international bodies, government bodies, newspapers and websites. ICTs are a contributor to the environmental damage. Major questions to ask are: • • • • •

Which part of ICT industry caused or is causing the environmental damage? What ICT products can cause the environmental damage? What products measure the environmental damage? What kind of environmental damage? and To what degree is the impact of the damage on the environment?

These questions have not been answered by any literature under review. Statistics describing the correlation between the negative impact of ICTs and the environment to cover worldwide is conceptual and scares. The first main reason is that-the relationship between ICTs and the environment is a new field. The second main reason is that the concentration is drawn more towards the positive aspect rather than the negative impact.

Perhaps there is statistical data existing on developed countries. However, no literature under review contains any statistical data on developing countries. The literatures used in this chapter only contain statistical data on some of developed countries, such as, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA. This chapter is organized into three segments. Segment one; briefly describes ICTs waste. Segment two; examines, analyses and addresses the negative impact of ICTs arising from three dimensions (production, usage, and discard) on environment and health. Segment three; explains, how ICTs can be used as a valuable tool to lessen the effect of climate change plus global warming and assist businesses in reaching a sustainable green goal.

WHAT IS ICT WASTE? According to (Hossam & Simon, 2008) Electronic waste (E-waste) is a popular, informal term for any electrical or electronic appliance that has reached its end-of-life. Yet, there is no standard definition of E-waste. The term E-waste is used for all electric and electronic waste ranging from large household appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners, computers and stereo systems, to hand-held digital apparatuses and mobile phones. The term e-waste is loosely applied to consumer and business electronic equipments that are near or at the end of their useful life. There is no clear definition of the term E-waste. For instance whether or not appliances like microwave ovens and other similar appliances should be grouped into this category has not been established. (California Integrated Waste Management Board, 2009). Information and communication technology waste includes; computers and computer peripherals plus communication devices and peripherals. (The Australian National University). Since this study is new, subsequently it is important to distinct Electronic waste (E-waste)

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and ICTs waste. E-waste is a term that refers to all electrical as well as electronic appliances that are no longer used by consumers. For example; white goods, stereo systems, TVs, computers, computer peripherals, communication devices and peripherals. ICTs waste is a part of E-waste. ICTs waste includes; computers and computer peripherals plus communication devices and peripherals. There are two main reasons that-why, we have to distinguish the two terms. The first reason is that the books and other literatures on E-waste contain statistical information that is general and there no specific statistical information on ICTs wastes. The second reason is that ICTs waste is new study and requires separate investigative measures. ICTs waste arises from three major sources; •

• •

ICT equipments (computers and computer peripherals plus communication devices and peripherals) used by all types of users. This is the straight forward use of the equipments that emits CO². More relevant is the fact that the electronic gadgets get dumped as wastes. Software products, when they reach their end of life. Waste produced by ICT services and carriers.

In this chapter ICTs waste refers to the three divisions not only ICT equipments.

THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF ICT ON ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH CO² emission is the main contributor to climate change and global warming. The emission of CO² is a direct result of industrial activity. ICT industry compared to other industries is a low CO² emitter around 2-3% of the total CO² emission. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry needs to further improve its environmental performance (it is responsible

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for around 2-3% of the global carbon footprint). (Christian, 2009). In its submission to the UNFCCC the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said, ICT across the globe with the proliferation of mobile phones and the Internet “currently contributes 2-3% of global green house gases (GHGs) emission and this figure is expected to rise” (ITU, 2008). The estimated 2-3 percent of CO² emission that ICT industry is responsible for includes; •

•

•

Design, manufacture and distribution that requires a high volume of energy mainly in production of computers and other wireless telecommunication devices. The energy consumption by the usage of ICT equipments privately. The direct emission by the usage of ICT equipments (PCs, servers, cooling, fixed and mobile phones, local area network (LAN), office telecommunications and printers). The usage of ICTs (all-encompassing) by government bodies and businesses worldwide. (Lorenz & Siegfried, 2003)

ICT products and systems are a significant and rapidly growing part of the environmental footprint of modern urban life. They are resource-intensive in manufacturing and distribution, consuming ever-greater amount of energy while in use, and creating escalating volumes of solid and toxic waste. ICT products may also have negative effects on human and social health as they are produced, used, and discarded. (Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group, 2008). The production of some ICT appliances require toxic substances and when discarded can cause a major risk to human health and environment. Similarly, the usage of these appliances can also harm human health. For example, according to (Vini, 2008) prolong usage of mobile phones can increase the chance of brain cancer. The negative impact of ICTs arises from three dimensions; production, usage and discard. Figure

The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health

1 exhibits the emission of GHGs arising from three dimensions by ICT industry.

Production The production phase of ICT equipments and components require massive usage of energy, non renewable resources and toxic substances. For example, according to (Lorenz and Siegfried, 2003) the production of a single chip requires 41 MJ of energy. Some of the substances used in production of ICT equipments are highly toxic such as lead, cadmium, and mercury. These toxic substances can have adverse impact on human health and the environment if not handled properly. For example, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) have high content of carcinogens such as lead, barium, phosphor and other heavy metals and must be discarded in a governed manner.

Usage As an important and valuable industry-the demand for ICTs is increasing swiftly. The increase in

demand for ICTs is a result of increase in population, booming economies and increase demand for education. The increase in demand for ICTs will eventually increase the demand for energy. Increase in energy consumption correlates with increase in the level of carbon dioxide emission, because energy production results in CO² emission. For example, based on the report by the Australian Computer Society, CO² emitted by the usage of ICTs in Australian business sector alone in 2005 was 7.94 Mt, equivalent to 1.52% of total national CO² emissions. (Australian Computer Society, 2007) Most of ICT equipments are mainly used in the internet facilities. The usage of internet services has been growing at an astonishing speed. For instance the latest figure show that Internet usage in North America alone is 68.6% of its population with a growth of 110.4% from 2000 (Internet World Stats, 2006). The internet usage is also growing rapidly in Asian countries as their economies are booming. These growing figures indicate that energy consumption arising from ICTs usage is on rise which associates with increase in CO² emission.

Figure 1. Emission of GHGs arising from three dimensions by ICT industry

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Discard Next time you discard ICTs equipment(s), ask yourself the following two questions; • •

Does this equipment(s) pose health and environmental risk when discarded? Where will this equipment(s) end-up?

ICTs waste is a new type of E-waste. What is done with discarded ICT products is a growing global problem. The main drivers for ICTs waste are; booming economies, growth in population, growing demand for education and our dependency on the internet. ICTs waste leaches toxic substance such as methane and emits CO². These toxic substances and CO² is the major contributor of GHGs that is causing global warming and climate change. The amount of electronic products discarded globally has skyrocketed recently and it is said to be on the rise. According to (Schwarzer, et al, 2005) it is estimated that 20-50 million tons of Ewaste are generated every year. The large portion of these products is ICTs waste. This large amount of waste could bring serious risk to human health and the environment. Management of E-waste in particular ICTs waste is a formidable global challenge because of lack of proper infrastructure, poor legislation and awareness among the global citizens. ICTs waste is more likely to end-up in landfills. Based on a report by Australian National University- 70% of heavy metals in landfills can be attributed to ICTs waste. The disposal of ICTs waste to landfill has been described as ‘A toxic Time Bomb’. The reason is that ICTs waste contains toxic substances. It is estimated that 50% - 80% of all material collected for recycling in the US is being exported. The export of ICTs waste to developing and under-developed countries is a cheap option for countries like US. The main collecting countries are China, India and Pakistan. (The Australian National University, 2006).

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Due to cheap labour and the lack of environmental standards the recycling/disposal industry in these countries can be accountable in wide spread environmental and health problems. The two popular and highly purposeful ICT equipments are computers and mobile phones. The findings below exemplify the negative impact of computers and mobile phones on environment and health.

Computers Similar to other ICT equipments, computers also emit GHGs arising from three dimensions-that is production, usage and discard. Computer components are both toxic and non-biodegradable. Nonbiodegradable implies to a substance that cannot be decomposed in the environment naturally, for instance plastic, glass, and aluminium. Figure 2 exhibits the components of a computer and their negative attributes. Plastic, ferrous metals and glass are non-biodegradable. Their non-biodegradable characteristic is a serious environmental problem. Non-ferrous metals are toxic substances that pose a serious health and environmental problem. Electronic boards that contain precious metals like gold, silver and platinum can pose serious health and environmental problems-why? Because landfill workers in third world countries like India, strip down these boards to recover the precious metals. Consequently, they are exposed directly to some of these toxic substances.

Production Production of a computer requires high intensity of energy, non-biodegradable material (such as plastic and glass), and some of highly toxic substances (such as lead, mercury, and cadmium). “The manufacture of one desktop computer and standard CRT monitor requires at least 240 kilograms of fossil fuels, 22 kilograms of chemi-

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cals and 1,500 kilograms of water-equivalent to that of a mid size car”(Sally, 2003). The material intensity of computer manufacturing is 10 times higher than that of automobiles and refrigerators but don’t last as long. The life cycle energy use of a computer, unlike many home appliances, is dominated by production (80%) as opposed to operation (20%). (The Australian National University, 2006). The intensity of CRT monitors is also high. They can contain 3-5 kg of lead a highly toxic substance. As mentioned by (Lan and Hywel, 2007) a computer equipment is a complicated assembly of more than 1000 materials, many of which are highly toxic, including chlorinated and brominated substances. Workers involved in chip manufacturing have started reporting cancer clusters.

Usage As mentioned by (Lisa and Peter, 2009) a typical European office PC and LCD monitor weighs around 20 kg, contain over 27 different materials, and generates 66 kg of waste and 1.096 kg of CO² during its lifetime.

Our dependency on computers and the demand for computers is on rise. We use computers in business, at home, and in many other places. It is estimated that this year (2010), there will be approximately 716 million new computers in use. There will be approximately 178 million new computer users in China and 80 million new users in India. (California Integrated Waste Management Board, 2009). The average lifespan of computers is dropping as new computers offer more speed and more efficiency. On average a business replaces its ICT equipments every 3-4 years in order to cope with competition. Table 1 presents the average lifespan of a computer in selected countries. The average age of computer usage is low in countries like Bulgaria and Israel. This is a reflection of the fact that computer users in these countries are less likely concerned about discarded computers and their aftermath effects on environment and health. This table also reflects the fact that computer replacement is more foreseeable than up-grade and recycle. This can be a prominent paradigm in these countries and other countries that are computer penetrated economies. This paradigm must be replaced by new paradigm of cleaner, up-gradable and recyclable computers.

Figure 2. The components of a computer and their negative attribute

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Table 1. Average age of a computer in use in selected countries only (Source (Piercarlo et al 2006)) Country

Mean age

UK

3.06

Italy

3.89

Germany

3.98

Norway

3.52

Bulgaria

2.62

Israel

2.67

Furthermore, manufacturers of computers should aim to build computers which are more durable and last longer than a couple of years. Governments can also play a major role by restricting businesses not to replace their computers for at least 5 to 6 years. Instead they can be upgraded instead of replacement.

Discard Discarding and disposing of computers pose a serious health and environmental problem; because computers contain highly toxic metals. Heavy metals present in computers consist of lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic in conjunction with brominated flame retardants. “Discarded monitors both cathode ray tubes (CRT) and liquid crystal displays (LCD) are probably the largest source of lead in landfills. The cathode ray tube found in most computer monitors and television screens contain 2 to 3 kilograms of lead, mostly embedded in glass. The lead and brominated flame retardants have the highest environmental impact due to their levels of toxicity and persistency (i.e. non-biodegradable) in the environment” (Clean up Australia, 2007). The plastic cases of computer boxes (housing the CPU and interface boards etc.), monitor and printers also contain brominated flame retardants (typically 5%) and antimony oxides (typically 1%). The main characteristics which cause these

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substances to be so dangerous are that they are persistent and non-biodegradable. Currently, there is no data available to indicate the amount of disposing screens in landfills as a result of the transition from CRT monitors to LCD monitors as well as analogue TVs to digital TVs. It can be estimated to be tens of millions. It can be said that this transition is another major environmental and health problem adding to the current problem faced by waste management in landfills. The disposal of computers in landfills-Australian example; •

• • •

•

37 million computers were either already in landfill or sent to landfill sites in Australia in 2008. Every year Australians purchase over 2.4 million new personal computers. Currently, only around 1.5% of computers are recycled. Around 69% of Australian obsolete computer equipments are held in storage, awaiting disposal. With only 1.5% of computers currently being recycled, there is a strong probability that most of these obsolete equipments will end up in landfill. The rate of generation of electronic scrap in Australia is large, and is accelerating. There are approximately 9 million computers, 5 million printers and 2 million scanners currently in households and businesses across Australia, and all of these will be replaced, most within the next couple of years. World wide examples;

• • •

31.9 million Computer monitors were discarded in 2007. Almost 268 million computers were sold in 2007 worldwide. Computer sales projection; 426 million worldwide by 2012.

The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health

•

The EPA (in report summarized above) estimates that 29.9 million desktops and 12 million laptops were discarded in 2007. That is over 112,000 computers discarded per day.

Sources; (Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australia, 2004) (www.computertakeback.com)

Mobile Phones Production Similar to computers, production of mobile phones require utilization of non renewable resources and toxic substances like aluminium, steel, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. Production of printed wire boards used in mobile phones is high in energy intensive that leads to great consumption of power.

Usage A mobile phone is the most useful and useable ICT device worldwide nowadays. This astonishing device has plenty of advantages. However, if disposed in landfills, it can pose serious health and environmental problems. Mobile phone’s lifespan is decreasing due to intense manufacturing and increase in demand. As stated by (Shunsuke and Yutaka, 2009) mobile phones have a lifecycle of less than two years in developed countries. 674 million mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2004, which is 30 percent more than in 2003. Mobile phones sales are projected to exceed 1 billion units by end of 2009. The following finding outlines the health impact of mobile phone usage. • •

Exposure to radio waves can increase brain temperature. Frequent use of mobile phones can lead to reduce sperm production.

• •

Exposure to mobile phones can open blood brain barrier. People living near mobile phone base stations experience frequent headaches, irritation and sleeping disorder.

Discard Mobile phones discarded in landfill can discharge hazardous and toxic chemicals such as antimony, arsenic, beryllium, copper, lead, nickel, mercury, manganese, lithium, zinc and cadmium. Even in small amounts, these hazardous chemicals can cause environmental contamination, affecting waterways, wildlife and human health. Table 2 illustrates the impact of these toxic chemicals on health and environment.

ICT AS AN ENABLER TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING Green ICT is defined as ICTs with low GHGs emission and using ICTs as an enabler to reduce GHGs emission in other industries. More precisely it means using ICTs as a tool to combat climate change and global warming by reducing GHGs emission. ICTs have the capacity to minimise the emission of GHGs in other industries (i.e. the remaining 97-98%). ICTs can have a profound impact on mitigating global warming and climate change. Despite the ICT industry being a comparatively low emitter, it has tremendous potential to be one of the major facilitator in reducing carbon emissions across the globe. (Communications Alliances Ltd, 2008). ICTs are and will be the enabler of sustainable environmental solutions in all networks of urban life: buildings, energy production and use, mobility, water and sewage, open spaces, education, and public health and safety. ICTs innovation is also the mechanism for changes in personal work, and

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Table 2. The impact on health and environment by these hazardous chemicals (Source (Clean up Australia, 2007)) Hazardous chemicals

Impact on health and environment

Cadmium

This poisonous heavy metal is known to cause lung and prostate cancer.

Lead

Lead is suspected carcinogen, a known hormone disrupter.

Lithium

Lithium-ion batteries are free of heavy metals. However, lithium has a high degree of chemical activity.

Mercury

When inorganic mercury enters the environment, it is deposited in soil and water.

community life as well as the fundamental requirement for sustainable environmental improvement. “Environment relates to the profound relationship between matter, nature, and society, and in such a context ICTs bring new ways of living in more interconnected society, all of which reduces our dependency on matter and affects our relationships with nature” (Hargroves and Smith, 2005). While the growing use of ICTs increases carbon dioxide emission, however its proper usage can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in other industries. For example, Virtualisation of products (e.g. CDs to mp3s), digitisation of information (e.g. catalogues to websites), dematerialisation of transport (e.g. flights to teleconferencing), diminishing of warehouses/office spaces and shortening of supply chains are all, at first, positive impacts. Findings below explain how ICTs can be used as a tool to minimise GHGs emission.

by governments, organisations, and individuals in dematerialisation for instance; •

• •

International summits, governments and businesses, have acknowledged the importance of ICTs as an enabler to mitigate climate change, for instance; •

Dematerialisation Publication of books, magazines, news papers and so on require paper. Production of paper involves chopping trees-which is ultimately not an environmental friendly process. Similarly production of CDs and DVDs also requires nonbiodegradable material. With the use of ICTs, information, music and movies can be digitised to substitute physical products such as paper and CDs. There are other examples of the use of ICTs

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Reducing the impact of transport and other energy use through virtuality and digitisation. Reducing paper production by using online media instead of paper based sources. Reducing paper production and transportation with the aid of other e-applications.

•

•

The use of ICTs (including the internet applications) combined with proper policies and strategies is vital for combating climate change and global warming, concluded by the OCED ministerial meeting on the future of the internet economy, held in Seoul in June 2008. The world economic forum (WEF) acknowledged that ICTs has the potential and capacity to be used as an enabler to reduce a significant amount of GHGs emission (i.e. the remaining 97-98%). Governments in OECD and major nonOECD countries introduced stimulus packages in order to address the economic crises. Part of theses packages is allocated

The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health

• • • •

•

•

to greening and Green Technologies. ↜The field of “green technology” encompasses a continuously evolving group of methods and materials, from techniques for generating energy to non-toxic cleaning products (Eco-seed organisation, 2009). Part of these amounts is and ought to be allocated to ICTs. ICTs can be exclusively useful in methodology of green technology-that is ICTs should be implemented in processes and strategies aiming greening. According to (Joanna, et al, 2009) ICTs is enabler for most business processes, and therefore overall business strategies, it makes sense to look to ICTs for solutions to help driven green benefits within these areas. The amounts dedicated by some countries are as follow; Germany has dedicated 5.7 billion EURO. Australia has dedicated 5.7 billion AUD. Canada has dedicated 2.8 billion dollars Korea has focused its 50 trillion KRW stimulus package almost entirely on development and use of green technologies, many with a ICTs component, for example using ICTs in green transportation systems. The U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provide 59 billion USD for green technologies, including 11 billion USD for smart electricity grid. A 2004 report commissioned by the European Commission’s Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) looked at a similar set of ICTs impact by 2020, including energy use of ICT products, several dematerialisation options, intelligent transport, role of ICTs in energy supply, and ICTs’ role in facility and production process management (IPTS, 2004). The report found a much grater potential for GHGs reduction associated with virtual products than the Global e-Sustainable Initiative (GsSI) report. (Sheridan, 2009).

•

According to a new study by International Data Corporation (IDC) and other industry partners, ICTs have considerable potential to reduce carbon emissions. The report, to be presented at the Copenhagen climate summit, revealed that integrating ICTs in energy, construction, transport and industrial sectors will reduce carbon emissions by at least 25%.

Despite being an enabler to mitigate climate change and global warming, if not governed the harmful contribution of ICTs itself are likely to grow rapidly. In order to reach green goals governments and businesses must introduce strategies and policies to incorporate ICTs as a green tool in their operations. According to a report by the Australian Department of Finance and Deregulation (2007) ICTs can be both an environmental problem and an enabler to mitigate climate change as well as global warming. However, ICTs lacks a common framework, strategy, and set of solutions. There is an urge that the ICT industry needs to gain a better understanding of the full life cycle of ICT products and services, and innovate ways to reduce negative environmental impact. This does not currently happen because of the lack of a commercial or legislative need to do so. Governments can play a major role through their incentives, initiatives and other sweeping measures. The following example exemplifies that how a single and simple government policy can have a vast impact on the environment. If organisations and individuals are encouraged to turn off computers overnight they can save 235kg of CO² in a year. Turning off 1000,000 computers at night would have the same effect as taking 80,000 cars off the road. Green goals can not be reached by only few governments or organisations. In order to reach green goals, governments and businesses across the planet must introduce strategies and policies to integrate ICTs in their manoeuvres. They must

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also work conjointly to reach green goals. According to (Unhelkar, Ghanbary and Younessi, 2009) Collaboration amongst governments, organizations and global citizens across borders is vital for global management of E-waste. The following few recommendations can assist governments, organizations and individuals to develop strategies and policies, first to address the current negative effects of ICTs on environment and health and second using ICTs as a tool to mitigate climate change and global warming; •

• • •

•

There should be production quota introduced for the production ICT equipments such as mobile phones and PCs. Start measuring power consumption by ICT components and inform the users. We can mitigate the negative impact of ICTs by reducing, reusing and recycling. Making the ICT components carbon neutral across their lifetime that includes manufacturing and disposals. Turn power management on, use a low power state or turn equipment off after hours.

The benefits of reusing and recycling of ICT equipments can be outnumbered, some the benefits of recycling computers are outlined below: •

•

• •

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Compared to disposal, computer reuse creates 296 more jobs per every 10,000 tonnes of material disposed each year. Nickel recovered from batteries can be used to make stainless steel Cobalt and recovered Cadmium can be used to make new batteries. Recycled plastics can be processed and made into fence posts and pallets. Gold and silver recovered from circuit boards can be made into jewellery. 300 grams of gold re-used saves mining an amount of 110 tonnes of gold ore.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS The field of ICTs waste and its impact on environment and health is a new study and requires further investigations. These investigations can include not only better and safer disposal of gadgets, but also incorporating these disposal features in the actual design and development of these gadgets. For example, computer production can include greening features such as biodegradability that makes it easier for recycling and eventual disposal. Furthermore, there is no conceptual framework of how ICTs can be used as a tool to combat climate change and global warming. This investigation and conceptual framework will assist governments and businesses in their course of action.

CONCLUSION This chapter discussed the relationship between the negative impact of ICTs and the environment. The chapter highlighted that ICT industry is accountable for 2-3% of the total CO² emission. Discarded ICT equipments in landfills can pose serious health and environmental risk, because they contain toxic substances such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. Furthermore materials used in the production of ICTs are non-renewable and non-biodegradable such as glass and plastic. ICTs are both an environmental burden and an enabler to mitigate climate change-if incorporated properly by governments, businesses and individuals. In order to mitigate climate change plus global warming and reach green goals, governments, businesses, and individuals must make a conjoint effort.

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Scarp, E. - A Hazardous Waste. (2004). Retrieved November, 2009, from http:// www.environment. gov.au Schwarzer, S. A. De Bono G. Giuliani, S. Kluser, P. Peduzzi. (2005). E-waste (the hidden side of IT equipment’s manufacturing and use). United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP): Nairobi. Retrieved November, 2009, from http:// www.grid.unep.ch Sheridan, R. (2009). Measuring the relationship between ICT and the environment. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): Denmark. Retrieved November, 2009, from http://www.oecd.org Shunsuke, M., & Yutaka, Y. (2009). Helping in the Fight against Global Warming with ICT. Retrieved November, 2009, from http://www.kddi.com Unhelkar, B., Ghanbay, A., & Younessi, Y. (2009). Collaborative Business Process Engineering and Global Organisations. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Vini Gautam Khurana. (2008). Mobile phones and Brain Tumours. Retrieved November, 2009, from http:// www.rense.com Waste, M. T. (Recent Findings on the Toxicity of End-of-Life Cell Phones). (2004). Retrieved November, 2009, from http://www.ban.org/Library Waste Management (Hazardous and Solid Wastes). (2009). Retrieved November, 2009, from http:// www.un.org

ADDITIONAL READING Computer World. The Voice of IT Management. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.computerworld. com.au Digital Opportunity Channel. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.digitalopportunity.org

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Ecoseed.(n.d.). Retrieved from www.ecoseed.org EurActiv. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.euractiv. com Gartner. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.gartner.com Gratuits, A. (n.d.). Retrieved from www. en.articlesgratuits.com Internet World Stats. (n.d.). Retrieved from www. internetworldstats.com SVTC. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.svtc.com UNEP. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.vitalgraphics.net United Nations University. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.unu.edu Victoria’s climate change website.(n.d.). Retrieved from www.climatechange.vic.gov.au World Net Web. (n.d.). Retrieved from www. wordnetweb.princeton.edu

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Climate Change: Changes in weather patterns resulted from global warming. Dematerialisation: Is the transition from physical phase to e-applications phase, such as transition from news papers to e-news. E-Waste: Is a term used for all electrical and electronic devices that reached their end of life. Global Warming: A continual increase in the average of earth’s temperature. Green ICT: Is defined as ICTs with low GHGs emission and using ICTs as an enabler to reduce GHGs emission in other industries. Green Technology: Encompasses a continuously evolving group of methods and materials, from techniques for generating energy to non-toxic cleaning products.

The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health

ICT Waste: Is referred to computer and it peripherals, communication devices and their peripherals that reached their end of life. Non-Biodegradable: Means when substances are not dissolved in nature by natural forces such as glass and plastic.

Toxic Substance: Is any chemical or combination of chemicals that may harm the environment and human health.

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Chapter 17

Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT Ioakim (Makis) Marmaridis IMTG, Australia Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia

ABSTRACT Global competitiveness through advances in ICT is giving SMEs abilities that up until a few years ago were inconceivable. Along with increased market reach and added impact SMEs also begin to feel the pressure of becoming more ecologically friendly. Therefore, they need to establish Green ICT practices within their businesses. While these practices are relatively better resourced in large businesses, SMEs find it rather challenging to implement Green ICT practice because of their size and amount of resources they can put behind such initiative. This chapter describes how collaboration can be used as a key enabler for SMEs adopting Green ICT for their operations. Green ICT improvements are presented in the context of people, process and technology framework and individual solutions are offered along with their benefits that SMEs can readily adopt and begin their transition towards Green ICT.

INTRODUCTION Green computing is a widely adopted initiative of most large organisations (Murugesan, 2008) worldwide. There are substantial benefits, no doubt, from all these efforts at a social and economic level (InfoAge 2007; HBR, 2009). There is however an entire class of businesses known

as SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) who would benefit greatly from adopting Green ICT practices and at the same time are constraint in several ways from moving to this level of adoption. This chapter builds on some previously published work in the area of SME technology diffusion and technical transformation capabilities (Marmaridis & Unhelkar, 2005; Marmaridis, 2004). The chapter discusses the drawbacks SMEs

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch017

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Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT

face in trying to adopt Green practices along each of the three ITIL dimensions of people, process, and technology and how collaborative practices can see them overcome these constraints. Finally the chapter closes with the presentation of a set of best practice steps for SMEs wishing to undergo transformation in their ICT operations and enable them to realize the benefits of becoming Green.

WHAT DRIVES SMES TOWARDS GREEN ICT? There are number of factors that drive a business to adopt and embrace green ICT initiatives. These initiators have been discussed in the past by Unhelkar and Dickens (2008). Four such specific initiators that propel an organisation to develop and implement an environmentally responsible strategy are the social and political pressure, rules and regulations, enlightened self-interest and a responsible collaborative business eco-system. These are discussed next in the context of an SME, as also shown in Figure 1: •

•

Social & political pressure: when there is pressure on an organisation from the society in which it exists, then the organisation is forced to consider environmental strategies. Social pressure can come in from the marketing department that wants to differentiate the products or services, the education system that enforces green values in the upcoming generation, or the political pressure from the electorate. However, such pressure is not legally binding, but relies on the ability of a collective opinion to enforce good corporate citizenship. Rules and regulations: Government environmental legislation that makes it legally mandatory for a company to implement environmental measures within their business operations further enforces the gen-

•

•

eration of environmentally responsible strategy. Enlightened self-interest: when an organisation, on its own accord, realizes the need to be environmentally responsible, and creates or adopts a green strategy. This initiator can also be cost driven or driven by the need to have brand recognition or even be driven by the need for business continuity Responsible Business Eco-System: when the entire eco-system of the industry and the environment in which an organisation exists, including its business partners, suppliers and customers are all creating and implementing green ICT initiatives; being part of such a business eco-system enforces an organisation to follow suit or be left out.

PEOPLE, PROCESS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR SME’S GREEN ICT EFFORT Examining Green ICT initiatives under the standard ITIL framework of processes, technology Figure 1. Drivers for environmental responsibility in small and medium business (based on methodscience.com)

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and people, one can see how SMEs lack in all three to turn Green ICT into reality for them and why it still remains largely an elusive goal. Figure 2 graphically represents the three areas SMEs can leverage to accomplish IT operations that are Green and therefore give them the benefits that other organisations are realizing from this accomplishment. This chapter builds on some previously published work in the area of SME technology diffusion and technical transformation capabilities (Marmaridis & Unhelkar, 2005; Marmaridis, 2004) discusses the need for driving Green ICT efforts by using collaboration at all levels of the business across the three dimensions of processes, people and technology pictured in Figure 2.

COLLABORATION AND GREEN ICT INITIATIVES FOR SMES The work presented in this chapter has evolved from the author’s ongoing research for a number of years into SME e-transformation and business collaboration inside and between organisations. Findings from the research in these areas concur

Figure 2. Examine Green ICT improvements for SMEs in terms of people, processes and technology

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to the significant role collaboration plays in the survival and growth of any organisation, and particularly SMEs that find themselves operating in a new tough, global environment surrounded by competitors that know no geographic limits. Furthermore, the recent global financial crisis only seems to have exacerbated the plight of SMEs. In this context it is important that SMEs then further evolve beyond just using ICT as a competitive tool and that they grow the social consciousness necessary to adopt Green ICT. Traditionally, organisations have found that collaborating and building strong business relationships has been an effective way of surviving and growing in the market (Ginige, 2004). We define collaboration as “to work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000). With the advent of computers in businesses and developments in ICT collaboration becomes cheaper and easier both between parties and also within a single organisation. Further advances in Information and Communication technologies are breaking down geographical barriers in relation to sharing and accessing information. Breakdown of these barriers are creating a global market. Organisations now need to offer products at globally competitive prices or carter for niche markets. The niche can be based on the uniqueness of the product, quality of the product, ability to undertake complex manufacturing tasks that require a wide range of capabilities, ability to carry out large tasks that require a large capacity, or high quality customer relationships. Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMES) can collaborate to undertake complex or large tasks. Further, organisations need to be adaptive and responsive to meet the dynamic nature of the today’s market. These collaborations need to be of a dynamic nature to respond to ever changing market. We are now beginning to observe the emergence of dynamic eCollaboration among SMEs. An SME survey conducted in 2000 found that they are beginning to make use of

Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT

ICT to enhance their business processes (Ginige, Murugesan et al. 2001) Large organisations with distributed workforce spread across large geographic distances are investing heavily on Green ICT. The author’s observations, reflection and analysis of real life projects suggest that Green ICT for SMEs is constrained by issues that exist the operational technology sphere, use of staff and appropriate processes that enable and foster a collaborative environment. In the section that follows, we discuss and analyse the impact each dimension.

Analysis of Constraints in the Three Dimensions of Improvement towards Green ICT for SMESs (a) The People Dimension People for an SME are the key differentiator between what it can achieve and what its competitors can. Because teams are typically small, individual contribution is heavily weighted and a lot of emphasis is placed on making sure that people are happy and content and continue to work as close to their peak efficiency as it is practically possible. Because staff productivity can directly affect the bottom line of the business, for Green ICT initiatives to succeed, it is fundamentally important to remove friction out of inter-personal activities. Less friction means less re-working, arguing and attempting to convince one another. Collaboration is the lubricant of work and has two key pre-requisites, timely access to information and trust (or as some like to refer to it, openness). We already know that trust is build on communication therefore effective collaboration requires access to information and means of frequent, accurate communication. Where SMEs can make significant inroads in their quest for Green ICT is to enable their people to tele-work. Subsequently they can extend this notion of decoupling the physical office with the work being done to their contractors, temporary staff and even suppliers,

vendors and customers. As long as people have access to the necessary information and IT systems they can use to share their messages with others either synchronously or asynchronously collaboration proves key to helping SMEs move long the people vector towards Green ICT. The people dimension is heavily affected by the four initiators discussed earlier and particularly those of social and political pressure, enlightened selfinterest and responsible eco-system. Staff within an organisation that is undertaking initiatives towards Green ICT experience increased morale. The reason is twofold, firstly because staff receives better ICT services overall with the introduction of tele-commuting and remote access to information. Secondly, staff feel they are part of something bigger contributing through their organisation to a more eco-friendly operation and to an extend setting standards for their partner organisations, suppliers and vendors. Staff satisfaction with ICT service delivery and general staff morale are good proxies towards measuring the positive effects of Green ICT initiatives in this dimension. (b) The Technology Dimension When it comes to technology, SMEs tend to be second-class citizens of the large multi-national technology producing vendors and conglomerates. What in the SME space is heralded as innovative and new, is typically what has been around at the enterprise space for years, and it is now considered old and obsolete. Virtualisation is a typical, recent, example, and mobile email and shared calendaring (some call these groupware systems). While large enterprises can make significant inroads towards their Green ICT accomplishments through server consolidation and energy-efficient datacenter technologies,SMEs are not able to do that because they do not use that many servers or rely on datacentres for their hosting. They can however move to hosted systems as much as possible, making information readily accessible while leveraging datacenter cooling and

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power consumption efficiencies and do away with up-front capital costs for purchasing hardware servers to run from their premises. There is also significant impact in reducing the KWH consumption of their desktop and laptop computer systems and keeping machines off at nights and weekends. Finally, there is a direct correlation between turning away from desktop computers to using laptops and other mobile or portable devices and moving closer to Green ICT. This dimension directly addresses all four initiators discussed previously. It is heavily affecting two of them in particular: rules and regulations and responsible eco-system. The introduction of eco friendly technologies and technical management practices sees the organisation comply with rules and regulations measuring power consumption. On the other hand, lowering the organisation’s carbon footprint through intelligent application of ICT and Greener infrastructure helps the organisation further comply in the context of responsible business within its eco-system of operation. (c) The Process Dimension Proactive maintenance of systems and moving away from break-fix type models for IT support can result in great benefits for SMEs whose otherwise small budget for ICT gets consumed rapidly by contractor IT technicians visiting every so often to fix issues after it is too late and either viruses, spam or data loss has caused significant down time and dented the productivity of staff. SMEs also tend to sometimes fall in the trap of looking at their IT requirements as if they are big businesses, typically employing in-house IT staff to look after their desktops, laptops and any servers they may have. As a result, they end up increasing travel for both their staff and their IT resource, duplicate on hardware and software purchases – unlike having a reputable third party offer on-demand services and pass on savings based on economies of scale they can realize. They also pass by the benefits of high specialization

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a third party can offer in proactive support and maintenance, instead they deal with a person that is “all rounder” and who is available to assist only about 45 weeks in a year, 8 hours per day instead 12 hours a day and 52 weeks per year. And if these benefits are not convincing enough, consider for a moment the need for an extra computer, company car, mobile phone, “test systems” and training expenses an SME is up against while looking to recruit and maintain the employment of an IT person for internal systems support. Social and political pressure from the outside is real and puts the organisation under stress to comply. The process dimension is perhaps the most visible one and it is often used to judge the level of ecological responsibility for Green ICT of the organisation. This is because the process dimension has immediate and measurable effects to the carbon footprint of the business operation. It also has far-reaching effects out to clients, vendors and business partners in the collaboration. The process carbon footprint and compliance for Green ICT operations by other business partners can serve as a good proxy for measuring the effectiveness of Green ICT initiatives within the organisation.

Collaboration as a Key Tool for SMES Realising Green ICT A set of key collaborative strategies appropriately applied, can enable progress for an SME along all three of the key vertices of people, technology and processes towards their realization of Green ICT. Table 1 provides a set of recommended best practices along the three vertices discussed for paving the path of SMEs towards Green ICT. As Table 1 demonstrates, collaboration at all levels is the key to moving towards a Green ICT environment for SMEs. Figure 3 shows a similar view of the levels at which collaboration can be best employed as a strategy to enable Green ICT Collaboration is the key part of the strategy for SMEs to reach Green ICT. There are two ways of looking at collaboration, top down and bottom

Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT

Table 1. Collaboration best practices for SMEs towards Green ICT with regards to people, technology and processes Dimension of Green ICT

Collaboration strategy

Key outcomes and benefits for an SME

People

• Institute tele-work for staff members

• Remove friction in communication • Result in better informed decisions • Raise staff morale through emphasizing social responsibility • Raise organisation’s profile as a responsible business to the rest of its eco-system

• Enable remote access to information for contractors, vendors and customers

Technology

• Move to lower energy consuming hardware for end-users and keep equipment off while unused i.e. over weekend or at nights • Invest in hosted systems where power consumption and maintenance costs are kept to a minimum and it is averaged over many users

Processes

• Instead of an in-house resource, setup proactive maintenance arrangements with a reputable third party provider for IT systems maintenance and support • Move away from break-fix models to a monthly pro-active service retainer

• Bottom line improvement from reduced expenses in electricity and equipment wearing our prematurely • Improved service for users by having information accessible 24x7x365 without the business having to pay for servers operating 24x7 • Achieve regulatory compliance for power consumption and carbon footprint size • Be seen as innovative business for taking pro-active action to positively contribute to the eco-system • Gain access to large pool of expertise and talent without the overhead of keeping this staff employed and trained. • Leverage economies of scale for purchases of software and hardware and access expert advise on demand • Smooth out cash-flow needs and get better life out of equipment by having regular, recurring checks and preventative maintenance done on them instead of fixing them after they break and cost downtime for staff and the business • Gain the position of trend-setter for putting effort into raising the bar for eco-compliance through Green ICT in processes that touch other business partners

Figure 3. Collaboration at all levels within and SME leading to extended SME capabilities promoting Green ICT

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Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT

up. Top down refers to management-driven collaboration where staff is assigned roles and responsibilities and where activities are largely pre-specified. Bottom up collaboration refers to individual staff members initiating collaborative work with others either inside the organisation or in different organisations as required. In our experience, for business collaboration a bottom-up approach is too informal, it does not offer any guarantees that information leaks can be detected and contained in a timely manner. On the other hand, the top-down approach may be workable to an extent for large enterprises when they deal with a few well established business partners and where an army of IT experts is available to configure and maintain “enterprise grade” collaboration systems. Everyone else in between including SMEs is not really catered for by these two ways of performing electronic collaboration. SMEs for instance require some level of inter-organisational trust to be in place before they engage in collaboration, on the other hand they cannot afford the top-down rigour enterprises try to exercise due to cost and time constraints. On the other hand, they need the flexibility of letting their staff take decisions about what is shared in the context of each collaboration and also allow their partners an equal footing to also share just as freely their own resources. Finally, they can benefit greatly by allowing access to web applications they are running internally and at the same time they cannot afford the price and complexity of systems that can give them federated identity management and single sign-on like enterprises use and battle with. SMEs can move a long way along the road towards achieving a Green ICT operation by collaborating with reputable third parties that specialize in IT services management and support. They can then effectively draw upon expertise that are typically hard to find and expensive and as a result they can implement adequate controls and

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processes to make top-down collaboration work between themselves and their business partners or their staff. On the other hand, by fostering and environment of systems openness and remote access / tele-commuting for their staff, they can remove friction and further enable bottom-up collaboration between their own people. As a result they can expect to see an increase in morale and staff productivity. At the same time, their carbon footprint will be reduced and the cost to the environment from their ICT processes will be reduced.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS SMEs leveraging collaboration as an enabler towards Green ICT opens a number of future possibilities and directions for research and business practise leading to a paradigm shift. This indicates that SME businesses will enjoy increasing degrees of freedom in their operations from realising that infrastructure and the need for local ICT support need not constrain them anymore. As business becomes global SMEs will start embracing common work goals with other businesses that are not geographically close to them. The rise of a Green ICT capability coupled by increased collaboration practices will see SMEs moving from geographic clustering to purpose-driven collaboration that spans verticals, industries and geographical boundaries.↜ 尨Within this context, the authors have identified three major areas where Green ICT and collaboration will play a major role in the near future: (i) supply chain integration between SMEs serving the same client base; (ii) environmentally responsible collaborations using Green ICT, that are driven by regulatory bodies, between SMEs in the same vertical to expand to new and opening markets; and (iii) the formation of collaborative clusters of SMEs at a state, national and international level where Green ICT will be a pre-requisite to participating.

Collaboration as a Key Enabler for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Implementing Green ICT

CONCLUSION Collaboration in the SME space is receiving a lot of attention from academic researchers, public media and large organisations, each for their own reasons. The collaboration benefits have been clear and centered around increased competitiveness and a wider reach of markets for the smaller players within a given industry. On the other hand, we are now seeing a lot more emphasis being placed on SMEs adopting green practices that run throughout the business. Although manufacturing, and logistics and shipping have been targeted there is an even-increasing shift towards examining the need for Green ICT for SMEs as well. The intensity and duration of this shift in thinking and practice or SMEs remains to be seen, it is however beyond a doubt that even small shifts in perception and practice in the SME space can have profound and far-reaching effects for the rest of the business world. We live in a business world where the largest employer of labour, producer of goods and services and user of resources are SME organisations. As adoption of connectivity to the Internet increases worldwide for businesses and owners of SMEs begin to realize their collective size and power, there will be an increasing shift towards eco-friendly operations including Green ICT. There is an additional dimension worth discussing as well, the extended use of technologies (such as mobile services and web access) for collaboration between SMEs in widely dispersed areas. Traditionally, SMEs tend to cluster in a single geographic region due to infrastructure facilities provided by the government. In future, however, we believe that SMEs will not be restricted by geography as infrastructure would be readily available and communication will be of very high quality. One such recent example in Australia is the move towards a high-speed national broadband network. Technological advancements like

these will make collaboration easier for SMEs and allow them a wider reach both to others partners but also to new customers and markets. It is because of this reason that Green ICT initiatives for SMEs must start now. The good news is that technologies and infrastructure necessary for collaboration are becoming more prominent and available at ever-lowering costs and this makes it a perfect time for SMEs to embrace the concept of Green operations beyond their manufacturing and logistics to their ICT as well. This chapter has discussed the role of collaboration both inside and between organisations in the SME space as a catalyst for realising a Green ICT practice. The wave has started and now is the time for SMEs to get on board and adopt the winning mindset and practices of collaboration that will benefit them, the markets and communities the operate within.

REFERENCES Esty, D. C., & Winston, A. S. (2006), Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. Yale University Press, 2006. Ginige, A. (2004), Collaborating to Win - Creating an Effective Virtual Organisation. In Lee, M.,(ed.) International Workshop on Business and Information. Taipei, Taiwan. Harris, Jason,(2008), Green Computing and Green IT Best Practices. Green IT 100 Success Secrets. HBR, (2009). Harvard Business Review on Green Business Strategy. InfoAge, (2007). Cover story: ICT gets its green house in order. Information Age. Publication of the Australian computer society, Oct/Nov 2007. Pp 18-25

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Marmaridis, I., & Unhelkar, B. (2005). Challenges in mobile transformations: A requirements modeling perspective for small and medium enterprises. Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Business (ICMB’05) 00, 16–22.

Unhelkar, B., & Philipson, G. (2009). The Development and Application of a Green IT Maturity Index‚ ACOSM2009. Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Software Measurements, Nov 2009, Sydney

Murugesan, S. (2008, January/February). Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices. IT Professional, 10(1), 24–33. http://www.computer. org/portal /web/csdl/doi/10.1109/MITP.2008.10. doi:10.1109/MITP.2008.10

Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009b). Managing Environmental Compliance: A techno-business perspective. SCIT (Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology) Journal.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. vol. 2004, Fourth ed: Houghton Mifflin Company,2000. Marmaridis, I., J.A. Ginige, & A. Ginige,(2004). Web based architecture for Dynamic eCollaborative work. In International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering. Marmaridis, I., et al.,(2004). Architecture for Evolving and Maintainable Web Information Systems. IRMA04. Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, Annukka, (2008). Lessons in Implementing ‚Green‚ Business Strategies with ICT‚ Cutter IT Journal, Special issue on ‚ Can IT Go Green?, Ed. S. Murugesan, Vol. 21, No. 2, February 2008, pp32-39 Unhelkar, B. (2009), Mobile Enterprise Transition and Management. Boca Raton, FL:Taylor and Francis (Auerbach Publications).

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): businesses that are typically less than 200 people strong whose physical presence is limited to a small geographical region. Green ICT: Green Information and Communications Technology stands for a set of initiatives organisations undertake in order to reduce carbon emissions and their carbon footprint produced by their information and communication systems. Collaboration At All Levels: Collaboration defined in the context of business where people within a business, external contractors and other vendor staff and ultimately clients share information and participate in common business processes for the purpose of work.

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Chapter 18

Sustainable Business Initiatives in the Context of Emerging Economies Jay (Luv) M. Nathadwarawala Cardiff University Business School, UK Khush M. Nathadwarawala Imperial College Business School, UK

ABSTRACT Emerging economies, becoming popular under the acronym of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), are facing unique challenges related to sustainability. The challenges faced by these economies are quite different to those faced by developed economies such as UK, USA and Australia. These differences arise – from the BRIC perspective – due to the lack of existing infrastructure, potential for huge growth in the markets, need for greater awareness from the consumers and the challenges in implementing regulatory compliances. Improving the performance of organizations and industries in which they exist is a crucial step towards achieving control and improving sustainability. This chapter outlines and discusses issues and challenges related to implementing green concepts in emerging economies, corresponding measures and also proposes an approach to ameliorating the challenges.

“Then I say the Earth belongs to each…generation during its course, fully and in its own right, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence” Thomas Jefferson (1789)

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch018

INTRODUCTION Sustainability is the ability of the business to continue its operations in the face of adverse situations. In a wider context, sustainability also implies the responsibility of the business to carry out its operations in such a way as to have minimum impact on its environment. This chapter discusses sustainable business initiatives in the context of emerging economies. Strategically, it is vital for a business to understand sustainability and ensure that its business

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Sustainable Business Initiatives in the Context of Emerging Economies

strategies are in line with the overall sustainability of its industry, society and the world. While the details of a sustainable strategy are hardly ever straightforward, the challenges multiply even further when industries across multiple geographical regions and national boundaries are involved. This was amply evident in the recently concluded Copenhagen summit. (Black, R., 2009) While well-intentioned representatives from various nations arrived, debated, discussed, and disagreed on the global need for carbon emissions control, hardly a nation ratified any of the agreements. While disappointing, it was not unexpected as staggering amounts of conflicting data that needs to be processed to arrive at solutions that are acceptable to all parties. Meanwhile, business goes on as usual. This chapter approaches the challenges of sustainability, and how those challenges can be handled within business strategies. More importantly though, this chapter aims to discuss issues related to sustainability in the context of emerging economies. This discussion, we believe, is important because of the unique challenges related to sustainability faced by these emerging economies. The acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) has become popular because these four regions represent the fastest growing developing economies. The challenges faced by these economies are quite different to those faced by developed economies such as UK, USA, and Australia. These differences arise – from the BRIC perspective – due to the lack of existing infrastructure, potential for huge growth in the markets, need for greater awareness from the consumers and challenges in implementing regulatory compliances. At the strategic level, sustainability can be incorporated in business planning, business processes, standards, regulatory compliances and in the attitude of the people working within that organization. The attempts to make a business a ‘sustainable’ also correlate with its continuity. An environmentally conscious business intertwines

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sustainability with its surroundings – which may be unique in emerging economies. This chapter is divided into the following sections: • • • • • • •

Understanding international sustainability Economics of sustainable development Sustainable development in emerging economies Business and government efforts on sustainability in BRIC countries Environmental economics & regulation in emerging economies International sustainability strategies in practice Future directions and conclusions

UNDERSTANDING INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability can mean different things to different stakeholders. For example, Brundtland (1986) defines sustainable development as a “… development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (Our Common Future, 1987) Based on our earlier introduction however, our view of sustainability is that it is the ability of the business to sustain its operations in the face of adverse situations and, at the same time, carrying them out with a small carbon emissions footprint. This sustainable approach to business – enshrined in its strategies and planning – is vital for the future. This is so because the traditional view deemed that all development was good. Development meant economic development; economic development meant increasing monetary wealth. However, this traditional view was all under the false pretext that natural resources are inexhaustible. We now know that this to be false and hence need to stringently apply this sustainable approach to business. Table 1 shows the

Sustainable Business Initiatives in the Context of Emerging Economies

differences between various business elements in fully developed economies and developing economies (BRIC). Table 1 also highlights the specific nuances of these sustainable business elements in terms of their environmental implications. Sustainability and corresponding sustainable development within the industry is a mechanism to reduce carbon emissions and, thereby, discharge responsibility towards future generations. For nations such as Brazil, Russia, India and China government targets usually revolve around trying to meet the needs of the current generation and giving them their due rights. In normal circumstances, the challenges of emerging economies are to overcome the current needs of the populace rather than worry about the future generations. Therefore, these economies need an additional impetus to consider environmental factors in their development. These considerations are brought to bear upon them through their international interactions – particularly with the developed economies. Figure 1 summarises recent thinking and developments in the area of sustainability in the international arena. This figure highlights why

BRIC countries also need to pay attention to sustainable development, the swiftly vanishing resources are threatening the future infrastructural development of the BRIC countries. According to the Club of Rome, the 21st century is going to see a devastating decline in world resources. It emphasises various parameters crucial to human life such as resources, food and industrial output per capita will exponentially decline as pollution, and population will rampantly increase. (Meadows, Meadows, Randers & Behrens, 1972) Continuing economic growth means undertaking activities, which requires the generation of green house gases (GHGs). The ‘developed’ world’s consumption and resultant pollution output persistently increases on the burden on BRIC countries to do more than their fair share towards conserving the environment for the future. Furthermore, this consumption of resources and corresponding GHG generation does not appear to be equitable. Should a uniform regulation on carbon emissions reduction be applied globally, it would take away resources and growth potential from the aforementioned developing economies

Table 1. Developed economies and developing economies (BRIC) comparison, of sustainable – business elements Sustainable – business elements

Fully Developed Economies

Developing Economies (BRIC)

People

High literacy; Low density; Wide spread; Results in rapid intake of the concept of sustainable development.

Low literacy; High density; Concentrated; Results in slow intake of the concept of sustainable development.

Process

High emphasis on standards and quality control.

Emerging economies now also focusing on standards and QA

Technology

Rapid adoption due to availability of technology – helps in environmental changes; but was responsible for the GHGs in the first place.

Relatively low use of technology, but the rapidly growing use can be environmental friendly from the first instance.

Markets

Heavily regulated with greater controls in place. Enables environmental factors to dictate customer spending patterns.

Weak regulation in markets. Customers are the main driving force to encourage environmentally friendly products and services.

Industry

Mature

Growing

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Figure 1. Recent history of sustainable development concept

– particularly India, where the authors have direct and practical experience of working. However, not reducing carbon emissions will harm the future generations globally and is not sustainable. (Based on earlier discussions by Wackernagel and Rees, 1996). The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio “placed the issue of sustainable development at the heart of the international agenda” (Boutros-Ghali, 1995). The delegates and participant members successfully delineated Agenda21. This agenda is a landmark

blueprint for move towards sustainable development. The Rio cohort also gave a declaration on environment & development. This declaration stipulated rights and responsibilities of nations; it also gave principles to support sustainable forestry. The Rio conference resulted in two legally binding conventions: climate change and biodiversity, signed by 150 countries. As shown in Figure 2 various minerals and metals are nearing exhaustion. The burden of using these recourses wisely now lies with the everexpanding industries in the emerging economies.

Figure 2. Current thinking on resource depletion (years) (based on www.newscientist.com)

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ECONOMICS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Sustainability plays a crucial role in business not only because of the responsibilities of business towards the environment. Equally important is the fact that sustainable initiatives invariably lead to good, efficient business. While traditionally, the business community has been driven by profit motives, and while we acknowledge the freedom to earn profit as a fundamental need of open economies, within the developing nations, the need for efficient business operations has two-pronged value: improvement in profit and reduction in carbon emissions. These two aspects of sustainability need to be incorporated in business strategies. As the industrial world enters an era where sustainability is in the limelight, this focus on sustainability by businesses is due to various pressures such as global resource depletion, global warming, and climate change, pollution, over consumption, and waste. Every nation is frantically attempting to formulate and enforce regulatory compliances on its industries to achieve some form of sustainability. However, a detailed understanding of the impact of this enforcement of green regulations on businesses is required. This understanding can be achieved through formal and accurate sustainability measures that are commonly accepted within the industry sectors. This chapter is focused on identifying such measures as well as studying the impact on sustainability initiatives. Furthermore, this chapter is focused on such measures especially in the context of developing economies, such as those of India and China. While global resources are usually divided based on national boundaries, there are still many situations where the world has to act as one. For example, while coal, oil and gas is being kept within national boundaries, the effect of burning these fossil fuels is being felt globally. The question arises: Is the sharing of responsibilities of GHGs happening fairly? Is every nation doing

its fair share in responsibly handling the effect of consuming these resources? This chapter investigates and explores these issues of sharing and consuming resources as well as measuring and mitigating the effect of carbon emissions.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EMERGING ECONOMIES Table 2 reviews contemporary green legislations, their brief, and their relevance to developing Economies. These attempts were made to agree to legislate, but no enforceable legislation came out of the summits. Yet, these gatherings of world leaders remain a vital contribution to humanity’s attempt to formulate globally applicable legislations. On a global front, sustainable development is becoming a core theme of businesses. However, for emerging economies the issue of sustainability, while important, is not the only issue being faced. There are various other competing priorities that developing economies face, such as food, employment, national prestige, national security and education. The Constitution of India (1950) included a Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 48A) which stated that: “The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.” Figure 3 demonstrates sustainability principals have been included in law for many generations. Nevertheless, for emerging economies the implementation of these laws that not been non-existent. This could be multifactorial such as slow industrial growth, lack of communication, less number of vehicles such as cars and airplanes, no internet and no servers, relatively low impact on environment, a lower rate of growth of impact and lack of awareness at “common person’s” level. Conversely, today, almost everyone is aware of carbon emissions footprints as the means and speed of communication of the effect of human

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Table 2. Contemporary green legislations, their brief, and their relevance to developing economies Contemporary Global Summits

Brief summary of the Global Summits

Connotations for Developing Economies.

2000 The Earth Charter launched – The Hague (San-Jose, 2000)

Declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society for the 21st century. Created by the largest global consultation process ever associated with an international declaration, endorsed by thousands of organizations representing millions of people. Seeks to inspire a sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the human family and the living world. The Charter is an expression of hope and a call to global partnership at this critical time in history.

This charter does not discriminate between developed and developing economies. Therefore, it applies to BRIC. Very well received by all the BRIC countries and extensive work was carried out to introduce its principals. Since 2002, the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment has disseminated the Earth Charter and has been using it in some of its initiatives, particularly as a guide to implement the Agenda 21 Program, and as a reference for holding national environmental conferences (The Earth Charter Initiative, n.d.). The first Earth Charter Youth Group was formed in India in January 2010 (The Earth Charter Initiative, n.d.).

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Boutros Boutros-Ghali)

“placed the issue of sustainable development at the heart of the international agenda” Agenda 21: blueprint for move towards SD Rio Declaration on Environment & Development - rights and responsibilities of nations Principles to support sustainable forestry Two legally-binding conventions: climate change and biodiversity, signed by 150 countries

Hosted by the Brazilian government, 108 heads of state/ government and 2,400 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all over the world were present in this conference. (The Earth Summit, 1992) The Agenda 21 is a comprehensive programme of action for global action in all areas of sustainable development. (The Earth Summit, 1992) Biodiversity is especially important of the large agriculture industries in BRIC countries.

2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development- Johannesburg

Update on Rio New emphasis on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) = the sustainable business agenda The Marrakech Process (10 year framework)

Due to large populations, changes in consumption and production have huge impacts in emerging economies. The Marrakech Process highlighted: developing countries should take action even in the early stage of development to prevent unsustainable levels of consumption from locking in (ESCAP, 2006)

activity is much higher than before, even in the developing countries. For example, the melting of the ice caps in Antarctica is seen in our lounges through the medium of television and the internet. Formation of lobby groups, exchange of information amongst them, collation of statistics and pressurising decision makers are some of the activities that are happening globally in terms of the environment. These activities are further noticeable within the developing economies. The communication

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revolution has flattened the disparity of information availability – hence the developing economies and their regulatory bodies can no longer ignore their responsibilities to sustainable development. Emerging economies are keen to provide sustainable development a significant impetus. The angle of improving international image and commercial business in undertaking green and responsible development is becoming increasing more attractive.

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Figure 3. Sustainability in law: nothing new

BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT EFFORTS ON SUSTAINABILITY IN BRIC COUNTRIES Theodore Roosevelt drew attention to the fact that “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets, which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired in value” Developing BRIC economies have different governmental systems. While India is a full multi-party democracy, both Russia and China have been following the communist system of single-party rule. As a result, there are differences in the way these economies approach sustainability. For example, as was evident during the Beijing Olympics (2008), the implementation of the legislation relating to carbon emissions was quick and large scale. Carbon emissions emitting industries were shut down before the start of the Olympics. Contrastingly, in India, the legislation and implementation took the path of long drawn out debates and discussions. Despite these variations in execution, sustainability remains a key part of the strategies for all developing economies. The challenge emanating from the developing economy’s governmental systems to business sustainability are as follows: •

Large population with highly complex social structures

• • •

•

Lack of measure and monitor of culture in general populace Lack of imaginative approaches Lack of awareness amongst the masses regarding the importance of sustainable development Struggle for survival competing with sustainable survival

Businesses today have very few people who are employed in the capacity as an environmentalist or sustainability expert. In addition, newer recruits often lack a proper grounding in environmental practices. Thus, an average firm ends up with an intellectual monoculture. The lack of knowledge is threatening our vulnerable ecosystem. To only accuse businesspersons in failing to adopt sustainability would be inappropriate, as there is lack of imagination on all sides, e.g.: • • • •

•

Environmentalists insist on banning cars The automotive industry is failing to redefine the car Customers being human are making irrational decisions On all fronts the inability to imagine different possible futures result in slow adoption of sustainable practices However, change happens fast and the recourses are being depilated fast.

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Regulators and politicians are equally guilty of this narrow focus, e.g. CO2 at the moment; no attempt to link financial crisis with sustainable consumption and production. Sustainability is also closely associated with the way business approaches the environment. For example, the business view of sustainability can be summarised in Figure 4. However, because of the relatively slow start and lack of technological advantages that the BRIC economies faced in the past, they are unable to manage the balanced view envisaged in Figure 1. Instead, their view is better surmised in Figure 5. The need to manage an even balance is vital. Therefore, we are suggesting approaches to developing and implementing business strategies that can bring balanced sustainable development to the BRIC economies. Our suggestions are: •

Educate the consumer base about the importance of sustainable development, by information through media, public seminars, talks in educational institutions etc.

Figure 4. Sustainable development; a 3-way balance?

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•

•

Show business owners the benefits/need for sustainable development through accurate matrices and measurements. Business need to understand the ‘profit’ of being sustainable before they would invest in implementation. Continue to pressure the government to pay more attention to sustainable development though lobby groups, international pressure and summits.

These propositions are further developed in subsequent sections.

ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS & REGULATION IN EMERGING ECONOMIES Various significant considerations with respect to emerging economies and their sustainability are discussed here. Currently, employment is in the limelight of many national agendas, as many businesses in the western world have become bankrupt leaving a surplus in the employment market. Employment is a crucial yardstick of prosperity of any nation. Sustainability encourages businesses to think in the long term and ensure that employment remains abundant not only for the current generation but also for generations to come. BRIC countries could tackle these two problems by creating a policy stating that every business needs to assess its sustainability. With the exponential growth in population faced by emerging economies, the future national prestige is being threatened. As the availability of resources dwindles, nations and their businesses will have to work smart with the limited materials to survive then, and in the future. Currently, BRIC countries have a perfect opportunity to change the ideology of its population to be prepared for their future. Considering the configuration of governments in such countries,

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a consumer lead drive for sustainable business is likely to have more success rather than a government led drive. The economies of BRIC countries work more on consumer demand. Economic output of any nation is usually proportionate to the investment made. Essentially, this would mean that if investment was to be made to helping any company’s sustainability then we could almost automatically assume the economic output of such a nation or business would also increase. Emerging economies need to invest more in to climate change, air quality, road traffic, river water quality, wildlife, land use, waste etc. unfortunately at the moment governments are only concentrating on employment, poverty, education, health, housing, crime etc. Needless to say, when we focus on resource conservation, we are most likely to be also conserving the environment (Steiguer, 2006). The relatively more dense populations of BRIC countries means that little changes in individual levels of resource consumption would have huge implications on the global front. Particularly, the gigantic populations of India and China alone can make a big difference by using resources more efficiently. The importance and value of resource conservation and hence environmental conservation needs to be communicated to the general

population. In doing so, emerging economies could gain an added advantage over the developed world, but the effects of not achieving resource conservation could be devastating. David Pearce (1989) discussed two views in the context of the environment: 1. Leave future generations with at least as much capital wealth as we inherited 2. Future generations must not inherit less environmental capital than we inherited The first view ensures that prosperity and wealth remain on an upward trend. The problem in only considering the first view is that it permits the maintenance and growth of wealth at the cost of the environmental capital. On its own, this view allows man-made capital wealth to substitute for the environmental losses. When the first and second ideas are seen in conjunction with one another, they are perfectly complementary. This second view by Pearce emphasises the need for smart consumption of environmental capital to ensure they do not degrade the environmental value for future generations. Pearce goes on to say, “The issue is often not whether we grow, or not, but how we grow.” What we have been calling ‘economic growth’ in the past has been

Figure 5. Sustainable Development as a dynamic balance of the environment, society, and economy’s concerns

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measured by indicators that were one-dimensional – leading to misleading measures of success. For example, measuring growth only through wealth and prosperity ignores the harmful side effects of such growth on the environment. Measures that value the environment and incorporate that in the calculation of overall growth are more accurate in reflecting the state of an economy and society. Decision makers and leaders in the developing economies are fraught with the challenges of handling increased costs to accrue future environmental benefits. The socio-political systems in developing economies need to be intertwined with legal strengths of enforcements in order to achieve the necessary balance in decision-making. As per Kahn (2005, 9), the social and economic systems are not separate from the physical and natural environment, but contained within it. Therefore, in free economies, the market forces that are effective in allocating resources and balancing the vendors and consumers need to incorporate the marginal costs of the environment. Kahn (2005, 37) correctly points out, that the market mechanism fails to allocate resources efficiently when private costs are not equal to social costs or when private benefits are not equal to social benefits. This is particularly true of developing economies where the environmental policies in the past have played a secondary role in influencing both business and social policy. Taxes and market-like negotiations have been unable to find direct acceptance in these economies. Instead, direct regulation of polluters, an approach disdained by most economists, has been the most widely used method of pollution control (Steiguer, 2006). Korten (1995) emphasises that globalization is shifting power away from governments who are responsible for the public good and towards a handful of corporations and financial institutions driven by a single goal- the quest for short-term financial gain. While these elite corporations and financial institutions are likely to be global firms they also have strong alliances to their home

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countries. With developing economies being pressurised by large firms from the developed economies, the scope for smaller companies to invest in going green is further diminished. In BRIC countries, the concept of a clean and natural environment seems to be slipping further from their grasp with each passing day. Their priorities lie with fulfilling basic social needs such as a stable job to provide clean water, shelter and food to sustain their families. When internationally popular manufacturing technologies were first developed, the concept of adverse environmental impacts was not considered. This was an era free from environmental responsibility but these technologies remain in use today. Now, economies need to quickly adapt to the current demands of sustainability and develop more green processes. Businesses in BRIC countries need to be aware about the devastating effects that will wash over any company that markets a man-made product. All businesses should be aware of: • • •

Their impact on the environment Improvements that they can and should make Their responsibility to share what is learnt

In 2010, Joseph Stiglitz talked about the total information asymmetry. He discussed how ignorance cripples market efficiency – ‘sound data lets buyers make smart choices’. Goleman (2009) encourages consumers to not only consider price but also environmental impact. In developed economies, the internet has lowered the cost of information and allows information sharing, which in turn leads to a reduction in information asymmetry. Unfortunately, for BRIC countries the availability and use of internet is still maturing. Availability of environmental and social impacts of products and services would create markets that are more efficient. Virtuous cycle: greater information will allow firms with high

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environmental and ethical standards to do well, thereby encouraging more improvements. The Porter and Van der Linde Hypothesis (1995) shows that stricter environmental policy requires firms to cut waste, increase energy efficiency and promote newer, more efficient production technologies. Contrary to common understanding, these actions reduce the cost to business because the optimization of these processes enhances business efficiency. The resulting cut in production costs also increases competitiveness. In particular, the policy makers in the developing regions, still favour regulation rather than highlighting and promoting the importance of efficiency as a business strategy to reduce carbon emissions. Regulations however, remain difficult to implement in BRIC countries. This is particularly a problem in India where there is a myriad conflicting socio-cultural and political interests that are often hidden from inspection. For example, an organisation that is polluting illegally in a stricter political regime has a greater chance of being punished quickly than in a highly democratic institution where the rights, interests and hidden agendas of many parties will be considered before a penalty is implemented. Thus, it becomes apparent that regulations are not necessarily good for promoting the cause of the environment for business in all circumstances.

INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES IN PRACTICE Having discussed the economic and regulatory aspect of carbon emissions – particularly in developing economies - this section now describes an approach to achieving sustainability in practice. While the discussion here is applicable to all economies and industrial sectors, there is specific emphasis on the approach to achieving them in the developing economies. A move towards a sustainable future for the developing economies can be achieved through the following major phases:

1. Identify the ideas and the vision the organization has for its future. In a developing economy, this would also involve the vision of the organization in relation to with other organizations and international bodies. This vision, while necessary for all major business transformation projects, is particularly vital for green transformation as it outlines the green objectives and their alignment to business objectives. 2. Benchmark current situation – using indicators and metrics. This is a very challenging phase in transforming into a green organization. This is because of the lack of standards in terms of green metrics and of agreement to what those metrics mean. 3. Identify green data needs and then establish data streams within and outside of the organization. These data streams can be made up of multi-media inputs related to carbon emissions from various functions of the business such as manufacturing, HR, supply chain, inventory management and customer relationship. 4. Plot a route to the desired destination - this is a green business transformation road map that highlights the areas within the business that will undergo change and the sequence of those changes. 5. Identify the personnel involved in the transformation along the route 6. Start regular audit processes using data streams to monitor the initiation and change due to the transformation process 7. Setup ongoing reviews and monitoring systems for the transformation process using systems and processes for transformation. Pearce reinforced the fact that “it is possible to have economic growth (more gross national product - GNP) and to use up fewer resources.” (Pearce, 1989) From this, we can see that it is possible to be green and profitable at the same time.

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Von Weizsäcker & Lovins (1997) gave the ‘Factor X’ debate. Factor 4: “doubling wealth whilst halving resource use”: A quantum change rather than gradual change towards more energy efficient technologies gives us a win-win situation: e.g. Hypercar: dramatic weight reduction in vehicle mass means: smaller, lighter power train, brakes, suspension, no power steering needed, etc. (Von Weizsäcker, Lovins & Lovins, 1997). Businesses have started to realise that being green could be more profitable than not being green. To implement sustainable development indicators must also be some indicators need to be created. We can then measure the success of various ventures against these indicators.

Case Study A nationally operating rehabilitation firm, Daivum Rehabilitation (DR) used the above approach to achieve sustainability in practice. DR operated by providing care and rehabilitation services for the elderly population of India through both its chain of rehabilitation centres and community based rehabilitation. The organisation wanted to be a pioneer in care of the elderly and improve life’s of millions of elderly people in India. Environmentally, it wanted to be greener in every context. Various indicators were used to bench mark its current situation: •

• • • •

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Number of patients handled by the organization provided the basic indicator of the capacity or volume of the organization Carbon emissions footprint of each patient, each bed, each day and each visit Action metrics: change the beds, reset the a/c, change electrical source, Metrics related to the daily cleaning of beds, buildings and surroundings Carbon emissions calculation of the building and infrastructure – for example, the air-conditioning and lights

•

Comparisons ratios between the data before and after bringing about the green change.

We concluded that the green transformation process went smoothly as we followed our own processes. However, gathering the data in the context of the patients was a very challenging task. The only reliable data was derived from the power bill. However, bringing about a change in the staff’s attitude and the patient’s viewpoint as well was a very positive result from the green transformation of this service.

Sustainable Consumption and Production This section discusses the two popular techniques of ecodesign and biomimicry that can have direct bearing on the sustainability efforts in organizations. This is particularly true in emerging economies where it is vital to relate productivity to sustainability. Ecodesign is an approach to design of products or processes with special consideration for the environmental impacts of the product during its whole lifecycle (Pezeshki, n.d). Biomimicry is the science and art of emulating nature’s best ideas to solve man-made problems. Non-toxic adhesives inspired by geckos, energy efficient buildings inspired by termite mounds, and resistance-free antibiotics inspired by red seaweed are examples of biomimicry happening today. Humans have a long journey towards living sustainably on this planet, but 10-30 million species with time-tested genius will help to help us get there. (http://www. biomimicryinstitute.org/) The consideration for ecodesign parameters could include raw material selection and use. If the raw material is sourced locally, savings on transport and storage would translate to saving the environment. The choice of raw marital should also be appropriate to the entire life of the product or service. For example, a pallet for

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moving heavy loads could be made out of either plastic or wood. The use of wood would mean a biodegradable cheap option however; a plastic pallet would mean a durable lightweight product with a virtually endless life. The implications around the manufacturing of products also need to be considered. The processes used in manufacturing can play pivotal roles in making products eco friendly or not. If considered during design phase, the packaging, transport, and distribution of products could help achieve a more efficient design, in turn allowing conservation of resources and hence the environment. Various other factors like installation and maintenance, use and endof-life also need to be considered. For each of these factors, considerations for consumption of materials, of energy and of other resources such as fresh water; emissions to air, water, or soil need to be made. Considerations for pollution through physical effects such as noise, vibration, radiation, electromagnetic fields and also, generation of waste material; possibilities for reuse, recycling and recovery of materials and/or energy, are all very important. Through the considerations discussed above BRIC countries can strive to make their products and services much more eco-friendly. Another way of approaching sustainable production and consumption is through Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). LCA or a ‘Life Cycle’ is the investigation and valuation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused or necessitated by its existence. “LCA can be an expensive tool to apply in depth; if it is done comprehensively it will usually cost upwards of a five figure sum (USD). This presents a difficulty for a designer looking for practical ways to care for the environment in their work.” (Billet, 1996) Biomimicry is based on the principle that if nature is right and sustainable, and nature designs products, systems, and structures, then can we design our products, systems, and structures the way nature designs?

Nature uses only the energy it needs. Nature fits form to function. Nature recycles everything. Nature rewards cooperation. Nature relies on diversity. Nature demands local expertise. Nature curbs excess from within. Nature taps the power of limits. “Unlike the Industrial Revolution, The Biomimicry Revolution introduces an era based not on what we can extract from nature, but on what we can learn from her.” (Benyus, 1997) When we consider nature as a model, then we can understand how biomimicry is a new science that studies nature’s models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems, e.g. a solar cell inspired by a leaf. Alternatively, we could use nature as a measure to help us use biomimicry as an ecological gold standard by which to judge our innovations. After 3.8 billion years of evolution, nature has learned: what works, what is appropriate, what lasts. Nature can hence also be adopted as a mentor. Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature. It introduces a new age based on what we can learn from the natural world and not on what we can extract from it. Some examples are: •

•

Wingtip winglets on commercial aircraft – inspired by wingtip feathers of birds of prey DaimlerChrysler ‘Bionic’ concept car The Box Fish

At system level, biomimicry can be a valuable aid in mimicking closed loops – Industrial Ecology. Industrial ecology is firmly rooted in systems theory, but often justified on the basis of biomimicry: “Industrial Ecology (IE) is the application of ecological principles to business, looking at business as a living system…so, we say that if it works for nature, it can work for business.” (Shireman, 2001) Kalundborg Eco-Industrial Park is a famous IE example in Kalundborg, Denmark. Here, waste of one process provides feedstock or energy for

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another process. Such cases are rare but fundamental for BRIC countries to becoming green. Biodiversity is the variety and variability of life in an area or the diversity of genes, species, and ecosystems. It encompasses diversity within a species (genetic diversity), among species (species diversity), and among ecosystems (ecosystem diversity), the latter includes the diversity of structure and function within ecosystems. The variety of life in all forms, levels, and combinations. (Smithson, 2002) Mimicking biodiversity is also a good way forward as we have already experimented with non-diversity and agricultural monoculture for example, has lead to disease prone crop, land degradation and dependence on chemicals. In countries like India where agriculture is one of its largest industries, biodiversity could be pivotal for the future of its agricultural industry. Problems of industrial/economic monoculture can lead to a monopoly, causing a lack of consumer choice, reduction in quality of products and services etc. Concentration of economic (and political) power is also a result of industrial monoculture. “Human social and organisational systems are in many respects much more like non-linear living systems than like linear machines, but they are mostly designed and managed as if they were machines.” (Field & Conn, 2007) The capacity to adapt that ensures the long-term sustainability of natural systems. This capacity of the living system to adapt and change resides in micro-diversity of the populations that inhabit it. There is a short-term cost of maintaining microdiversity, since at any given time it implies that there are many sub-optimal individuals, judged from any particular criterion of efficiency. Diverse systems always include a number of organisms or even subsystems that are suboptimal for the current situation, but that may become optimised in a different situation. If, or when the environment changes, the diverse system is prepared with a new subsystem to become the

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dominant form, hence the system as a whole is preserved. Although the roles and interrelationships of subsystems it may change, the shifting balance between these diverse systems helps sustainability. “It is necessary for companies to be made adaptable, through the encouragement of diversity in their constituent systems, the fostering of the internal relationships that enable particular constituents to fulfil themselves at the appropriate time, and the fostering of external relationships that keep the companies in harmony with their environments.” (Field & Conn, 2007) From Figure 6, we can see, for all the firms, the secret of survival has been adaptability. Willingness to change product or service focus and even business model to suit the current times is vital. It was the ability to recognise and exploit new trends that allowed these companies to survive. Sustainability is a new challenge. Firms will have to also adapt to this new trend in order to survive.

FUTURE DIRECTION This chapter highlights the importance of sustainability particularly for BRIC countries but also the entire Green ICT community. It emphasises how sustainability/sustainable development is different in BRIC countries. Considerations for environmental economics & regulation in emerging economies and also, how business and government in emerging economies countries interact, reveal possible directions that could be pursued to achieve a greener future. Various approaches on how sustainability can be achieved in practice lay the foundation for governments, companies, and also researchers to build on further. •

Sustainability needs to be compared for varying geographical regions. This was outlined in this initial research. However, there is a need to

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Figure 6. Sustainable firms

◦⊦

•

•

Identify precisely which factors are different (give examples) and which are same (again give examples). After Kyoto and Copenhagen, the next summit agreed by the United Nations general assembly will be in 2012 and will be hosted by Brazil. The themes are the Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, the institutional framework for sustainable development, emerging issues and a review of present commitments (www.earthsummit2012.org). Further research is needed in the area of ‘shared recourses’. The disparity between consumption between the developed and developing needs to be bridged for a greener future.

CONCLUSION In the twenty-first century, the emerging economies have found themselves in the challenging position of driving economic growth while acknowledging their responsibility to the looming ecological crises. This is made particularly difficult by the lack of infrastructure in these countries and of widespread knowledge about social and environmental responsibility. These economies, characterised by the BRIC countries, are shouldering a burden placed upon their shoulders by the men of the developed world, who in their time were unaware of the wheels they were setting in motion. Gatherings of world leaders fails to draw a conclusion as to how each country will fairly control their carbon emissions and production of greenhouse gases. Sustainability is appearing on the agenda in these countries but when basic needs of the society such as food, clean water, and housing must

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also be addressed, the hurdles that must be faced become evident. Although, businesses across the world are becoming aware of being eco-friendly, the implementation of this is fraught with problems. The lack of knowledge and training in sustainability mean that misconceptions about cost, and the challenges of implementing change in current practices appears impossible. However, businesses in a cut-throat economy should work together to improve their practices, their efficiency and in turn their carbon footprint.

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Meadows, D. H., & Meadows, D. L. (n.d.). Randers. J. & Behrens W.W., (1972). The Limits to Growth, 1972. New York: New American Library. New Scientist. Retrieved from http://www. newscientist.com/. Onions, C. T. (1964). The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Our Common Future, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, the Center for a World in Balance. Retrieved from http://www.worldinbalance.net Pearce, D. (1989). An economic perspective on sustainable development. London: Environmental Economics Centre. Pezeshki, C. (n.d.). Understanding Ecodesign and Associated Educational Opportunities. Washington State University. Porter, M., & van der Linde, C. (1995). Towards a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relationship. Journal of Economic Perspectives. Beijing, China: Resource Saving Society and Green Growth. San-Jose, C. R. (2000) Earth Council. Costa Rica Smithson, J. K. (2002). Complete Acronyms/ Glossary for WSAU Transcript. London: Property Rights Research. Steiguer, J. E. de (2006), The Origins of Modern Environmental Thought. Stiglitz, J. E. (2010). Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy. New York: WW Norton & Company. The Constitution of India (1950). Article 48A Retrieved from www.india.gov.in The Earth Charter Initiative. (n.d.). Earth Charter Activities around the World: Brazil Retrieved from http://www.earthcharterinactio n.org/content/ categories/Country/Brazil

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The Earth Charter Initiative. (n.d.). Earth Charter Activities around the World: India Retrieved from http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/c ontent/ categories/Country/India The Earth Summit. (June, 1992). United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Brazil: UNCED secretariat The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, (ESCAP) (June 2006). Role of Public Policy in Providing Sustainable Consumption Choices: Tucson: The University of. Arizona Press Von Weizsäcker, E., Lovins, A. B., & Lovins, L. H. (1997). Factor four. London: Earthscan. Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. E. (1996). Our Ecological Footprint:Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishing.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Information Asymmetry: In economics and contract theory, information asymmetry deals with the study of decisions in transactions where one party has more or better information than the other. This creates an imbalance of power in transactions which can sometimes cause the transactions to go awry. Examples of this problem are adverse selection and moral hazard. Most commonly, information asymmetries are studied in the context of principal-agent problems. (MasColell, Whinston & Green, 1995)

Ecodesign: An approach to design of products or processes with special consideration for the environmental impacts of the product during its whole lifecycle (Pezeshki, n.d). Biomimicry: The science and art of emulating Nature’s best biological ideas to solve human problems. Non-toxic adhesives inspired by geckos, energy efficient buildings inspired by termite mounds, and resistance-free antibiotics inspired by red seaweed are examples of biomimicry happening today -- and none too soon. Humans may have a long way to go towards living sustainably on this planet, but 10-30 million species with time-tested genius to help us get there. (http:// www.biomimicryinstitute.org/) Industrial Ecology (IE): The application of ecological principles to business, looking at business as a living system…So, we say that if it works for nature, it can work for business. (Shireman, 2001) International Sustainability: The capacity to endure. It describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. It is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources (Onions, 1964). A Life Cycle Analysis (LCA): Also known as ‘life cycle Assessment’, is the investigation and evaluation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused or necessitated by its existence (Hendrickson, Lave & Matthews, 2005).

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Chapter 19

Digital Green ICT: Enabling Eco-Efficiency and Eco-Innovation Krunal Kamani Anand Agricultural University, India Dhaval Kathiriya Gujarat Technological University, India Paresh Virparia Sardar Patel University, India Pankaj Parsania Anand Agricultural University, India

ABSTRACT Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an irreplaceable component of practically every aspect of human activity with its impact buttressed by the omnipresent internet. While the developed world thrives on ICT capabilities, the developing economies are using it for leapfrogging into new levels of technological advancement. Modern ICT systems are made up of a complicated mix of people, networks, hardware and software. As their spread is increasing rapidly, issues such as energy, environment and related aspects have to be addressed ensure user satisfaction without damaging the ecosystem. This chapter focuses on green ICT aims to study and practice use of computers and other ICT resources efficiently laying stress on factors like reduction of hazardous components, maximization of energy efficiency, enhancing re-cyclability and biodegradability.

INTRODUCTION: WHY ARE WE ‘GREENING’ ICT? Information and Communication Technology systems (ICT) should be a core element of any organization’s green strategy. Computers are an

essential element in the delivery of various services; Hundreds of thousands of public servants and other people can use their desktop computers to work far more efficiently than we could have dreamed possible as recently as 20 years ago. However, they are often not explicitly recognized or incorporated into most sustainability plans.

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There is significant opportunity to capture value by designing and implementing a sensible green element within the ICT realm. 1 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a major user of energy and natural resources. The use and disposal of computers, servers and printers has to happen in a sustainable way. We have to do our best to ensure that the very systems that improve the lives of millions of people do not also have a negative impact on the environment. The ICT strategy sets out the first steps we can take to reduce our carbon footprint. We have to set the world to look at our ICT in this way and we want to see changes taking place immediately. We want to see best green practice throughout - computers switched off overnight, printers defaulting to duplex, data centres efficiently cooled. There are many simple steps that can be taken right now to improve the situation. We need to make sure these things happen and happen quickly. By turning off just one computer overnight we can save 235kg of CO2 in a year. Over the whole estate the potential is enormous – turning off 500,000 computers at night would have the same effect as taking 40,000 cars off the road and these figures are increase every day. 2 We want our technology to be efficient, we want it to be more sustainable and above all we want to be responsible in the way we use it. The Government should take initiative to achieve these goals.

GREEN ICT VISION We all recognize the critical importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) both as a large consumer of energy and primary resources and as an enabler for environmental and cultural change. The vision for ICT is:

•

•

In line with the definition for Carbon Neutrality, the energy consumption of ICT on the office estate will be Carbon Neutral. ICT will be carbon neutral across its lifecycle.

ICT CONTRIBUTION Energy consumption on the government estate is not falling as much as had been expected, one certain contributor is ICT. ICT is already pervasive in government buildings and across industry via outsourced government contracts. Office equipment is the fastest growing energy user in the business world. The Carbon Trust estimates that it consumes 15% of the total electricity used in offices, expected to rise to 30% by 2020, with around two-thirds of the energy consumed by office equipment being attributed to computers. 3 However the Green ICT agenda is not just about energy efficient ICT, ICT can also be used to generate environmental benefits elsewhere in other operations. It is a key enabler for most programmes and it should play a major part in reducing carbon emissions from other areas of all activity, for example through enabling tele conferencing and video conferencing, remote and home working. Coupled with the cultural change and more energy efficient working practices, the use of ICT can reduce both building occupancy and travel. This has knock-on benefits as government and private sector’s staffs takes these new behaviours and best practices home to their local communities. ICT can act as a powerful enabler for citizens and businesses to reduce their carbon emissions. But these changes are likely to require an increase in ICT investments, making it all the more important to ensure that the inherent carbon footprint of new ICT investments is significantly reduced. 4 In e-Governance it should mention that, “Everyone has a responsibility to set a positive example on the environment, so telling IT leaders to work

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with industry to find new ways to improve the sustainability of government computer systems.” The government should work with industry and draw up evidence-based proposals for improving the sustainability of ICT used both in-house and in out-sourced contracts with service providers.

Implementing as many actions from ‘Area for ICT Carbon Reduction’ (Table 1) are practicable and necessary to deliver the strategic objectives above and specifically: •

AREAS FOR ICT CARBON REDUCTION Table 1 shows the list of actions and rationale in the areas of ICT for carbon reduction. An indication is given of the qualitative factors to be assessed before embarking on each, but no quantifications of energy reduction are given, as what can be saved will be highly dependent on circumstances.

GREEN ICT STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES Strategic Objectives Government and other organizations should first target their own offices and state that Government’s office estate will be Carbon Neutral by 2012. This will be supported by ICT in lowering the power consumption of equipment used, including outsourced contracts and services. ICT will also support the wider sustainability agenda, for example reducing emissions through changes in business processes and working practices, minimising transport and reducing waste through minimising paper use. By 2020 Government aims to comply with and where possible lead and go beyond global best practice for sustainability across the whole ICT lifecycle. This will cover carbon neutrality and sustainable processes for use of materials, water, accommodation and transport, in the manufacture, use and disposal of ICT. 7 ICT will be delivered by:

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•

•

•

•

Extend the lifecycle of all ICT purchases to their natural demise either caused by failure, inability to support the business objectives of the organisation, excessive maintenance costs or excessive carbon footprint and energy consumption, as opposed to frequent automatic refresh and replacement programmes. This should occur where such extension will have environmental benefits across the product lifecycle and re-deployment of the equipments is not envisaged. Reduce the overall number of PCs and laptops used by the organisation to reach a ratio close to 1:1 as much as possible unless there are exceptional circumstances. Implement a range of active device power management actions as detailed in Table 1 will significantly reduce power consumption. Reduce the overall number of printers used by the organisation and replace with multifunction devices where security issues allow and use green printing defaults wherever possible (such as double-sided and multiple pages printing). Increase average server capacity utilisation to achieve a minimum of 50% where possible, as part of a commitment to comply with the code of conduct for the operation of data centres.

Information Technology Center of Anand Agricultural University demonstrate how ICT is helping reduce the carbon footprint by using multifunctional devices, by setting intranet in department and across the entire university campus. The approach is to create awareness of the impact ICT has on departmental carbon emissions

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Table 1. Area for ICT Carbon reduction Actions

Rationale

PCs and Laptops Remove active screensavers

A monitor left running with an active screen saver uses the same amount of energy as when the screen is in full use. The PC may also be consuming needless power in sustaining the screensaver

Switch monitors to standby after 5 minutes of inactivity (no active screensaver)

Prevents a longer period of wasted power May be possible to use the PC standby trigger to automatically switch the monitor to standby at the same time.

Shut down PCs after office hours

For the default working day of 8 hours the overnight period lasts 16 hours, so could be wasting up to twice as much energy as consumed during the working day

Enable active power management on desktops (standby / hibernate after a defined period of inactivity)

Having active power management enabled will more closely match the consumption of energy with use, reducing wasted energy There are products that will enable active power management for all networked devices that have such power management facilities

Ensure re-use of equipment that is no longer required but is still serviceable. If re-use is not possible recycle or ensure green disposal.

The majority of energy in the life of a PC or laptop is consumed in its manufacture, delivery and disposal. Extending its use or seeking its re-use elsewhere will save energy and materials (manufacturing stage) as well as purchase and disposal costs. Ensuring necessary security procedures are carried out prior to re-use, recycling or disposal.

Specify low-power consumption CPUs and high-efficiency Power Supply Units (80% conversion or better)

Do not over specify system requirements. The richer the functionality on a device the more mains power is drawn – a high powered machine suitable for high graphic gaming is not needed in a central government office. Power supply units convert mains AC power to the DC power needed by computers. More efficient units minimise the loss of energy from this conversion in the form of heat.

Apply Thin Client technology

A Thin client is less complex than a PC and contains fewer components, increasing its life over that of a normal PC and reducing maintenance and support costs and thus energy consumption. However additional energy is required to support the greater bandwidth necessary for connection to its server as well as to run the server and its supporting air-conditioning equipment.

Other office ICT Equipment Apply timer switches to non-networked technology and printers

Not all ICT equipment can be networked and/or automatically shut down or put into standby mode – typically fax machines, printers and even legacy computers aren’t networked. Neither do all such devices have automatic facilities to switch to a standby mode after a re-set time. Timer switches can be used to turn off such equipment automatically outside office hours saving up to 2/3rds of its daily energy consumption if currently left on 24hours a day.

Set default green printing including duplex and grey scale

By reducing the amount you print you will save paper and energy. Further savings can be made by presetting duplex, booklet and greyscale defaults and using a “Print on collect” facility if provided.

Optimise power-saving sleep mode on printers

Printers are only active for 263 hours/yr or 12 calendar days; so if on permanently they waste energy 97% of the time. 5 If power saving is already in place – reduce the amount of time before sleep activated.

Printer consolidation

Reducing the number of printers and replacing those left with networked multi-function devices (MFDs) e.g. combined printers/copiers, can significantly reduce energy consumption. Fewer printers may also lower maintenance and management costs.

continued on following page

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Table 1. continued Device consolidation

Reducing the number of electronic devices will reduce in-direct energy requirements e.g. less support and maintenance. Move from using PC to laptop or Thin Client and remote access services on a home or other non-work device connected to the internet to access email. Rather than a mobile phone and a PDA(e.g. Blackberry), use a single integrated device and “follow-me“ services rather than having separate video conferencing equipment consolidating it into desktop devices may reduce energy consumption

Data Centres Server Optimisation a. Implement storage virtualisation & capacity management b. Convert existing physical servers to “virtual servers” – partition servers that run in parallel on the same hardware without any interference c. Turn off servers outside their service level agreement, subject to a phase loading and chillers unit risk assessment d. When designing & provisioning new services, create “virtual servers” instead of procuring physical new servers. e. Implement a multi tiered storage solution, much of the data spinning on disks today is seldom accessed Reduce cooling in the data centre to appropriate levels and increase the ambient room temperature Identify servers and data disks in the data centre that are running but not providing any services and decommission

Assists in identifying unused servers and disks Air-conditioning/cooling equipment typically requires at least the same power as the servers they cool, so reducing servers may save twice the power required to run them. • Industry practice has been to run a server using only 20% of its capacity. • A server which is switched on but idle still requires 50-70% of the power it uses when it is running under maximum load, therefore a single server running at 80% load uses considerably less energy than 4 servers each running at 20% load.5 • Configure several ‘virtual’ servers onto a single server to increase capacity used. Using a single device in this way not only reduces the hardware and support costs but also decreases the energy requirement.

• Research has shown that increasing temperatures in data centres does not lead to a higher failure rate as was previously thought • Over 50% of the power associated with the data centre is used for cooling the ICT equipment • A server which is switched on but idle still uses 50-70% of the power used when running at maximum load.

Specify low-power consumption, low voltage servers high-efficiency Power Supply Units (80% conversion or better)

• Do not over specify system requirements. The higher the specification the more mains power is drawn. • Power Supply Units convert mains AC power to the DC power needed by computers. More efficient units minimise the loss of energy from this conversion in the form of heat.

Ensure re-use of equipment that is no longer required but is still serviceable

• Energy is required to manufacture, distribute and recycle equipment as well as to use it • Extending its use or seeking its re-use elsewhere will save energy as well as purchase and disposal costs.

Data centre audit

• Identifies mismatches between the current physical layout and the layout that would maximise the effectiveness of cooling from air conditioning units • Up to a 20% reduction in cooling could be achieved.6

amongst government, non government organizations, other senior officials and the ICT industry. Increasing staff awareness about the impact of ICT can have and encourage them to think about different ways of working. Working with departments and industry to research and identify more radical proposals to go beyond the easy changes, including the development of longer term low carbon solutions (e.g. servers, data centres, more

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efficient hardware and software), and more sustainable energy supply arrangements.

PROGRESS IN GREENING THE ICT Combining solar power and communications initiatives has become a hot development strategy, with organizations like Green Wi-Fi and Inveneo

Digital Green ICT

leading the way. The marriage of these two goals makes particular sense in India, where gleaming high-tech parks exist alongside flagging rural infrastructure. While cities like Bangalore now house the world’s top IT companies, half of the country doesn’t have power. 8 A Green ICT delivery group has been established by the Indian government to increase awareness of best practice for improving green ICT and to provide support and advice to departments in its implementation. Food Processing Technology and Bio Energy department of Anand Agricultural University is producing biodiesel from Jatropha seed and using biodiesel fuel to run a car. Anand Agricultural University has thought out a new way by launching e- Krishi Kiran project under that Soil Health Card Program which is an online program of technology transfer with an individual farm condition in focus.. Soil Health Card program is expected to bridge the gap between scientist, extensionist, farmers and input-output dealers effectively. Soil Health Card Program helps to transfer of technology more scientific, precise, easy, and need based.. Soil Health Card programme generates and provides the fertilizer recommendations on the basis of soil analysis and the nutrient requirements of the crop for each field. This will increase the efficiency of the fertilizer and saves consumption of the fertilizer which helps to make environment green. As a step forward in the green ICT, Anand Agricultural University has implemented video conferencing which benefits scientists, researchers and farmers to communicate with its model farm houses and sub centers. 9 A list of immediate steps has been developed to encourage the early implementation of some simple but high impact actions (Table 1). Examples of areas where immediate savings could be made include: •

Running a long life asset campaign to increase lifespan where appropriate.

• •

•

• • •

Turning off PC’s overnight, at weekends and during holiday periods. Ensuring that all printers are either purchased with automatic duplex functionality or default to duplex and grey scale to reduce the amount of maintenance, transport required electricity, paper and toner used. Removing active screen savers and utilising power management functionality to put monitors in low power modes after specified periods of inactivity to reduce energy consumption of the equipment. Ensuring peripheral equipment is switched off overnight. Putting PCs into low power modes after specified periods of inactivity. Re-using or re-distributing legacy ICT and related goods to ensure assets are fully utilised for their whole life via a credible, traceable provider.

When developing the business case to support action plans departments should consider the funding and resource requirements and look for self-funding opportunities. Departments should also consider opportunities for sharing ICT services with other departments which may have the potential to increase energy savings. 10,11

FUTURE DIRECTION Since the green ICT is a continuous programme of activity. Further work will: •

• •

Address more complex options in the light of more detailed research, including identifying the pros and cons of different approaches. Identify Green ICT standards and measurement criteria for discussion and agreement. Embed Green best practices and environmental impact assessments into main-

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•

•

stream departmental and industry operational supply chains and reflect these in departmental procurement standards. Encourage the use of ICT to help reduce energy consumption in other parts of the organisation e.g. reducing occupancy, minimising travel and ending the need to print documents. Assess the environmental impact of delivery, support and project development of ICT services.

RISKS AND MITIGATIONS There are a number of risks which need to be considered to ensure the vision is met: •

•

•

•

•

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People not taking the targets seriously – there is accountability within departments through independent reporting. The cultural change required not happening – work with departments to ensure that staffs embrace the challenge and are involved in the process wherever possible, identifying opportunities for awareness raising and sharing lessons learnt. New technologies and innovation making current best practice redundant – the list of actions for departments will remain under review by the Green ICT delivery group. Lack of benchmark data resulting in good progress not being properly recorded and acknowledged – the particular organizations will continue to work with suppliers, departmental colleagues and industry experts to establish a robust baseline to enable an accurate record of progress to be produced. Operational requirements taking precedence over environmental concerns – work closely with departments to make sustainable ICT business as usual over the long term.

CONCLUSION The topics of climate change and environmental protection have been discussed for decades. Now they have become a reality for companies, which are now also taking responsibility for the CO2 emissions they have produced, and are also taking action. ICT is playing an important role here in several ways. It causes around 2% of the global CO2 emissions - this must, and can, be reduced. Furthermore, ICT can also be used intelligently in all other business processes to help to reduce the impact on the environment. 12 Organizations which use Green ICT are thus making a valuable contribution to protect the environment. These organisations are also benefiting from it in many respects. Many of the approaches presented here are associated with cost reductions and of course the reduction in energy consumption in particular. Government organizations and private industries are in process to adapt Green ICT. Entire world is serious about the climate change, various legal ICT regulations will also emerge in the near future — companies are therefore well advised to act now. Some approaches stated in Table 1 are already in use by the educational organizations. The Information Technology Center and Food Processing Technology and Bio Energy Department of Anand Agricultural University has already taking action in this direction. Every organization has different starting requirements. These should be analyzed first. We have already familiarized ourselves with possible starting points in core processes; areas of the data center and office workstation. Rapid success can be achieved primarily through “low-hanging fruit”, for example through the energy-efficient use of terminals or double-sided printing. Greater potential can be achieved more easily together with an ICT service provider. Increasing approach towards the use of video telephony, electronic archiving, dynamic services,

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and improving professional data center structures can create significant added value for any government organization or private industry. While implementing these technologies, interventions in core processes must be carefully planned. Although these measures promise excellent and sustainable results, it is crucial in all approaches that government organizations and companies first proceed in a structured manner and secondly that they coordinate all their Green ICT efforts, or ideally even bundle these all together.

REFERENCES Gandhi, V. A., & Kamani, K. C. (2008). E-Governance: Enabling ICT in Rural Internet Kiosk National Level Conference at C. U. Shah College of Engineering, Wadhwan. Gandhi, V. A., & Kamani, K. C. (2008). Social Entrepreneurship of ICT: The Myth of the Hibernating Village. National Conference at Shri M & N Virani Science College. “Greening Government ICT”-Efficient, Sustainable, Responsible.(n.d.). Retrieved from www. cabinetoffice.gov.uk/medi a/.../greening_government_ict.pdf J. Haris, (2008). Green Computing and Green IT Best Practices. http://www.silicon.com/managemen t/publicsector/2008/07/17/whitehall-it-to-be-carbonneutral-by-2020-39261023, 2008 Kamani, K. C., Kathiriya, D. R., & Virpariya, P. V. (2009). E-governance: Enabling ICT in Agriculture. In Proceedings of CSI national Seminar on Current Trends in ICT (CTICT-2009) organized by Computer Society of India, Vallabh Vidyanagar Chapter and Department of Computer Science and Technology, Sardar Patel University.

Retrieved from http://pwcom.wordpress. com/2009/03/26/t en-things-to-manage-in-arecession-5-cut-power Solar-Powered ICT Centres in India. (n.d.).Retrieved from http://www.worldchanging.com/a rchives/007481.html T-Systems Enterprise Services GmbH. (n.d.). Corporate Marketing & Communications. Green ICT. The way to green business. The Green IT Report,(2009). “Green ICT in the EU”. The Greening of Business.(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ictliteracy.info/greenict.htm, Green ICT. Tom Worthington, (2009).“Green ICT – Computers and Telecommunications with minimum energy and material use.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Green ICT or Green Computing: It refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. E-Governance: It is a network of organizations to include government, non-profit, and private-sector entities; in e-governance there are no distinct boundaries Recycle: To treat or process (used or waste materials) so as to make suitable for reuse Biodegradable: Material that, left to it-self, will be decomposed by natural processes. Carbon Neutral: Emitting no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Videoconference: A teleconference conducted via television equipment. Biodiesel: It is a cleaner-burning diesel fuel made from natural, renewable sources such as vegetable oils.

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Chapter 20

Using Knowledge Management Tools in Fostering Green ICT Related Behavior Change Magda David Hercheui Westminster Business School, UK

ABSTRACT This chapter discusses the role of Green ICT in improving the management of information and knowledge about sustainability in order to promote behavior change. Drawing upon a knowledge management theoretical framework, this research investigates a free-of-charge Internet tool, Microsoft Hohm, which enables American homes to better manage their energy consumption. The study shows the relevance of designing Green ICT solutions, which cope with tacit and explicit knowledge, and reduce the complexity in managing information on sustainability. In addition, the investigation confirms that the combination of sophisticated Green ICT interfaces with social media solutions offers better ways to foster behavior change through virtual socialization.

INTRODUCTION Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have an important role as tools for information management and knowledge management in an organization, fostering behavior change. Such behaviour change is of immense value as organizations move towards sustainable development. The domain of sustainability within an organizational context is extremely complex and new frameworks and approaches are required to reduce this DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch020

complexity and to permit a better management of information and knowledge. Such simplification would improve the administration of energy and resources, and the production of waste. Successful management for sustainability is expected to foster behavior changes in the individual, the organization and in the society at large. The current state of environmental challenges is such that any effort to reduce resource consumption and waste production, from any direction, is welcome. Many organizations are developing or adopting information systems, which embed functionalities for information management on sustainability. For

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Using Knowledge Management Tools in Fostering Green ICT Related Behavior Change

example, Microsoft Dynamics (www.microsoft. com) and SAP (www.sap.com) enable the incorporation of environmental sustainability practices into Enterprise Resource Planning systems. These pieces of software may also be classified in a broader sense as Green ICT, as they specifically focus on improving the management aiming to promote sustainable practices. The challenge in the domain of sustainability is that scientific bodies, organizations and individuals are not clearly knowledgeable about how to measure inputs and outputs for building sustainable enterprises and organizations (Bell and Morse, 2008; Kanie and Haas, 2004; Melnick et al. 2005). In the domain of sustainability, much still is unknown in terms of defining parameters of benchmarking and best practices (Bell and Morse, 2008; Pachauri and Reisinger, 2008). In this condition, it is much more difficult to promote behavior change, because conflictive pieces of information dispute the knowledge domain, and people are less motivated to change their behavior when they are not convinced about the utility of their effort. A second fundamental aspect in the domain of sustainability is its complex and uncertain nature, highly depending on the context (Kanie and Haas, 2004; Pachauri and Reisinger, 2008). A degree of generalization is possible when discussing topics related to sustainability. However, as important as generic knowledge is, it is also important to have specific knowledge that is related to the context in

focus. The environmental science per se is a field in which most knowledge depends on the efficient overlapping of what we know generically and what is known locally. In practice, the contextual knowledge also feeds back to the more generic level of knowledge, in a continuous loop which generates advancements in the knowledge related to sustainability. In addition, economic, social and political context in which the organization finds itself are also important when in bringing about behavioral changes in the area of sustainability. Individuals, organizations and societies will not change their behavior towards the environment just because of availability of scientific data and publication of scientific knowledge. Indeed, people will interpret the scientific knowledge on sustainability in accordance with their understanding of needs. These needs of people depend on broad economic, social and political contexts. Change in behavior is brought about by a receptive attitude built through the interplay between scientific knowledge and social perspectives. Thus, management for sustainability demands a multi-disciplinary approach, from the generic to the contextual level, and from the scientific to the economic, social and political levels. This is shown in Figure 1. This chapter develops a theoretical argument that Green ICT for fostering behavior change should take into account information management and knowledge management strategies. This work draws upon studies which point to the difficulties

Figure 1.The interplay between generic and contextual scientific knowledge and social perspectives

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related to the management of sustainability and the need to create consistent frameworks which diffuse best practices on the domain (Haas, Kanie and Murphy, 2004; Kanie and Haas, 2004). In order to investigate the applicability of the proposed theoretical approach, this chapter analysis a free-of-charge Internet tool, Microsoft Hohm (http://www.microsoft.com/environment/hohm. aspx), which helps managing energy consumption in American residences. This example has been chosen because of the sophistication of the tool and the facility that people have to use it through the Internet.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE Simply conceptualizing, knowledge is the background experiences, values, reasoning and insights which allow individuals and societies to understand and add new information and experiences, thus expanding our perception of what is acceptable as truth (Davenport and Prusak, 1998). Knowledge is in the mind of people as well as it is formalized in documents and other forms of repository, from electronic databases to routines and practices (Davenport and Prusak, 1998). In other words, tacit and explicit knowledge should be taken into account when designing solutions for knowledge management, especially when the aim is to promote behavior change (Hislop, 2009; Newell et al. 2002; Polanyi, 1983 [1967]; Wenger, 1998). Tacit knowledge is in the mind of people, thus sometimes it is difficult to communicate it or represent it through symbols, including language. Explicit knowledge is the aspects of knowledge that may be communicated through words, diagrams, schemas and mathematical language. In other words, these are those aspects of knowledge that have been codified. Although this conceptual differentiation is very useful, the tacit and explicit aspects of knowledge are interlinked and mutually dependent: contextual tacit knowledge is

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fundamental to understand explicit knowledge (Hislop, 2009; Polanyi, 1983 [1967]). Indeed, the creation of new pieces of knowledge depends on processes of socialization (Ipe, 2007; Nonaka and Konno, 1998; Wenger, 1998). Once a new piece of knowledge is created, it is necessary to uncover forms of embedding it in repositories, formalizing the transformation of tacit into explicit knowledge. In certain degree, the process of codification implies that a level of generalization is supposed to be possible, i.e. some pieces of knowledge may be transferred and applied in other contexts and environments. Naturally, this transference is not straightforwardly: people reinterpret the codified knowledge in their own context, in such a way that the process of internalization of knowledge from a codified format implies also a process of transformation. Thus again through socialization, specific codified knowledge is transformed into new tacit knowledge, fostering behavior change (Ipe, 2007; Nonaka and Konno, 1998). Understanding the difference between tacit and explicit knowledge may foster the process of internalization of knowledge and behavior change. From this perspective, the best strategy for diffusing knowledge is to combine techniques and processes that consider its tacit and explicit aspects. More specifically, taking into account that tacit knowledge is in the mind of people, a better management of knowledge for sustainability should include techniques and processes to promote forms of socialization. Efforts for making explicit knowledge available should be associated with strategies for strengthening communities which share same interests, values and beliefs. Indeed, contemporarily the interactions among members in communities of interest are strongly mediated by social media – social networks, forums, blogs, Twitter, among other interfaces. Scholars call these social arrangements around common interests and mediated by computers ‘virtual communities’ (Castells, 1996; Delanty, 2003; Graham, 1999; Meraz, 2009; Rheingold,

Using Knowledge Management Tools in Fostering Green ICT Related Behavior Change

2000 [1993]). This research takes seriously the relevance of virtual spaces of interaction, exploring how they may foster the diffusion of knowledge on sustainability and behavior change which favors sustainable practices.

MICROSOFT HOHM: MANAGING SUSTAINABILITY This section introduces an Internet interface, Microsoft Hohm, which proposes to help households to improve their management of energy consumption in American residences. It explores two main features of the tool. Firstly, it describes the way the interface cope with the explicit aspects of knowledge, codifying complex knowledge into pieces of software that make it simpler and thus more accessible to people. Secondly, it investigates how the interface is associated with virtual spaces of interaction, i.e. virtual communities, through social media, thus nurturing the diffusion of the tacit aspects of knowledge. The tool mainly embeds information and knowledge on energy consumption into tables and mathematical models. Users are asked to input data related to their consumption of energy, the kind of materials and infrastructure they have at home, and the sorts of devices they use. The simple filling up of forms engages users in learning more about which aspects are relevant for reducing the use of energy, as the questions naturally point out to the relevant aspects when discussing the domain. For instance, the kind of material used in the building is an important factor to define whether the residence is energy efficient. The tool is currently available for United States residencies because the mathematical models behind it demand substantial contextual data that is supplied for the United States only. The embedded mathematical models and analytics, which permit the comparison between individual household consumption and benchmarking contextual data, are provided by the Department of

Energy (DOE) 2 Building model, a standard for building energy efficiency, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. Indeed, the interface demands users to inform an American post code to permit registration. Microsoft Hohm supports households to understand their consumption of energy, comparing the results of a residence with the average consumption in the same neighborhood. The recommendations take into account the comparison between the household data, the average energy consumption in the area and the best practices in energy management. The tool explores in details how energy is consumed in a residence, for instance, measuring the use of energy per category of devices and pointing out that the levels of insulation efficiency of different materials. The simple comparison of household results with the neighborhood average fosters the diffusion of best practices as people are able to understand how they are positioned in relation to others. In addition, Microsoft Hohm provides precise and detailed recommendations of actions, and an interface which helps the management of these recommendations. Microsoft Hohm has a very flexible interface. Developed as a set of modules, each of these sections is divided into sub-sections. Interestingly, the interface has many fields to fill up, which permits the household to have a precise picture of the individual situation. However it is not necessary to fill up all the details in order to have a consistent evaluation of the household situation. Each field has a default answer, thus those that do not know all the necessary data about their house still may benefit from the information they are able to provide. In this way, different users may explore different levels of depth in the answers, doing the best of the amount of information they have. The more information is available, the better the evaluation and recommendations, but even if the household has minimum amount of information still the tool may offer some interesting recommendations. The default answers help those who are not much knowledgeable about technical

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details on the energy use and building materials, although naturally the quality of the final recommendations suffers when the user depends heavily on the standardized answers. After receiving the inputs of the available parameters, the interface provides particular recommendations in a table which brings the diagnosis and the actions to be taken. Each recommendation informs the benefits the household would have implementing the changes, including savings in money and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the recommendations also inform how the households may make the proposed changes, whether people can do changes by themselves or whether they need to contract professionals. The interface asks people to register for using the tool, keeping the track of individual data. At any time, users may return to the tool to update their household data and recalculate their energy consumption, receiving as well an update report on recommendations. Indeed, the recommendation interface permits the user a level of interaction, thus users may manage the actions they are to take through the interface. In providing this facility in terms of managing the recommendations, Microsoft Holm offers an additional feature for supporting behavior change. The described interface, which mainly takes data from households, treats data mathematically and returns reports on analysis and recommendations. Microsoft Hohm opens many communitybased spaces through a blog, forums, Twitter and Facebook. In these spaces, people can clarify their doubts and share discussion about their common interest. In sharing tacit knowledge – those aspects that have not been formalized by the interface – these communities also contribute to improve the product. Microsoft team uses the community inputs to create new solutions, improve the interface and fix bugs and unclear aspects. In these communities, members give their support to other members and to Microsoft Hohm team as well. There is a sense of community between members and also between users and Microsoft professionals, as they discuss openly ideas for developing the

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system. Finally, the interface provides documents on how to save energy, which may help consumers in learning more on the topic to rethink their behavior towards energy consumption. The service also permits users to ask for more specific orientations through email, in order to support those people who do not like to interact through social media spaces. In this direction, Microsoft Holm offers a further possibility of managing tacit knowledge, through direct communication between the user and a Microsoft professional. This communication could be done through social media spaces, however not all people are comfortable about making questions in public spaces even when these interactions are virtual. Many people avoid making questions or giving their opinion about a domain in order to not reveal what they do not know, fearing to cause a negative impression about themselves in a social space. Thus the possibility of having private (or anonymous) consultation is always an interesting resource to be sure all sorts of users are attended in their needs to assimilate the diffused knowledge. This is a fundamental step for fostering behavior change in the desired direction when discussing techniques and process for knowledge management.

DISCUSSION From the perspective of codifying explicit knowledge, Microsoft Holm embed mathematical models in its interface, collecting data from households and generating particular reports on the individual situation in accordance with the informed data. The tool transforms complex mathematical models into manageable pieces of information, which are then used to calculate the energy use. Based on these calculations, the tool generates reports comparing the household situation with other residences in the neighborhood,

Using Knowledge Management Tools in Fostering Green ICT Related Behavior Change

providing recommendations on how to change the household situation to improve performance. The level of detail on the elements which affect the consumption of energy, provided by Microsoft Hohm, is impressive, such as the structural elements of the house, the types of doors, windows, heating and cooling systems, sorts and quantities of appliances and lighting, among other pieces of information. This example shows how information systems may support efforts to cope with the inherent complexity of the domain of sustainability. In addition, information systems offer efficient means to manage the dynamism of the related fields. As the environmental conditions change very quickly and new pieces of knowledge are discovered every day in this domain, these interfaces need to be flexible enough to incorporate these new pieces of knowledge and contextual information. Any change in the available information is quickly updated into the interface, thus benefiting immediately all users. Indeed, in answering the questions demanded by Microsoft Holm interface, people learn about the aspects and parameters they should take into account when thinking on management of household energy consumption. The recommendations, complementarily, are clear, indicating impact in terms of energy savings and money savings. Thus some recommended actions may be very useful for the environment, in terms of energy consumption, but not necessarily they pay back the investment. Thus users may make their decision based on their individual benefits, such as the money they may save, or based on their belief that they should impact less the environment. In this direction, the tool is a very powerful instrument for changing behavior, offering different sorts of arguments for different social segments. Microsoft Hohm is a good example of how an information system may embed flexibility. On the one hand, the tool brings a very detailed map of energy use, permitting users to explore all the complexity of the domain if information is available. On the other hand, in practice many

people do not have all relevant pieces of information, thus the tool reduce the negative impact of lack of information providing default parameters for most of the available fields. This embedded flexibility means that those who have more accurate information are to receive better and more precise recommendations. However, those that do not have similar quality information may also benefit from the tool, receiving recommendations which are based on the average behavior in similar neighborhood. In this way, the tool permits to cope with the complexity without eliminating the support for those users that are less savvy on the domain of energy consumption. This aspect of providing recommendation in accordance with the neighborhood is very important when discussing energy consumption in households. Indeed, national averages of energy consumption do not help much considering the variance in weather conditions and materials used in different places in a big country such as the United States. The criteria of attaching localization to the tool bring more precision, although naturally they exclude users who do not live in the United States. Indeed, many people around the world have requested that Microsoft Holm extends its scope to other countries, as registered in its virtual spaces of interaction. Although the company has manifested this intention of developing similar tools to other countries, this process is very complex because it would demand a volume of information that is difficult to manage and mostly is not available in many countries. Thus not necessarily the same design developed for American residences may be transferred with success to other countries, especially when the quality of the information on energy consumption is not high. From the perspective on tacit knowledge, Microsoft Holm provides spaces for conversations through social media. Interestingly, members in these communities have the opportunity of following up the dialogues of each other. The access to conversations permits users to learn from previous debates, thus facilitating the process of

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internalizing knowledge through socialization. Furthermore, the virtual interactions also contribute to building the identity of the group. In these spaces, the sharing of common interests is a very important link to support the sense of community and promote behavior change, because members build a common understanding of the relevance of their action and help each other to emotionally cope with the emergence of a new identity in relation to the domain of sustainability. Also the company makes clear how previous suggestions and concerns have been taken into account, which shows the value Microsoft Holm’s team puts on the contribution of users and community members. As in any virtual community, building trust is a very important aspect to keep the cohesion of the community. Future research may investigate how Microsoft Holm is to evolve through time, considering this version for the United States and other versions that are to be created in the future. Also the company may broaden the scope of the tool, including modules to manage other resources and the production of waste. The interface today aims to residential use, however similar idea may be used in the corporative level, which would be relevant especially for attending small and medium corporations, which do not have resources to invest in more sophisticated and expensive tools.

FUTURE TRENDS Organizations, governments and civil society may explore this model of knowledge management developed by Microsoft Holm, in which the tool aims to reduce the complexity of knowledge, bringing together features which cope with tacit and explicit knowledge. Considering the lessons learnt from the academic and practitioner literatures and the presented case study, initiatives for building Green ICT should take into account three main ideas, which are discussed below.

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Green ICT Should be Flexible and Always Evolving: The complex nature of knowledge in the domain of sustainability and sustainable development demands flexible applications that permit their use in different contexts, and that allow further systems development to incorporate changes in the state of science. Flexibility is also important to accommodate users who have different levels of knowledge about ICT and the domains of sustainability. Considering the urgency of environmental issues and the need of finding solutions that foster sustainable development, Green ICT should be adaptable for the use of as many people as possible. Social groups in the local level and countries in the global level have different capacities to understand and adopt Green ICT. Thus it is necessary to develop tools that are flexible to attend the needs of people with different skill sets. Although we cannot expect universal, standardized tools, we can expect the capacity of creating modular solutions that can reduce the development time to customize applications to specific realities. Green ICT Should Support the Diffusion of Knowledge on Sustainability: It is urgent to find channels to spread knowledge on sustainability, and to foster the creation of more pieces of knowledge in the domain. Knowledge management tools may support both objectives. However, it is important that knowledge management applications treat differently tacit and explicit aspects of knowledge. For sure, knowledge management systems should embody explicit pieces of knowledge, as manuals, mathematical formulae, graphs and tables. Complementarily, these applications should offer spaces of interaction, permitting people to ask questions, to discuss themes, to define priorities, in ways of fostering the creation of knowledge, doing a better use of the available knowledge, and internalizing know-how that cannot be communicated only through codified means. Considering the widespread acceptance of social media interfaces around the world, from private to professional settings, one may draw upon this

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collective knowledge to support the diffusion of the tacit aspects of knowledge. The advantage is that less training is necessary when people use the very same tools they are using to other activities, or similar tools that are conceptually close. More research is necessary to understand how Green ICT may support efforts to diffuse knowledge on sustainability. Green ICT Efforts Should Receive Institutional Support to Permit Free Internet Tools: In a world of global markets, great part of the Green ICT efforts is regulated by price mechanisms. However, the emergent need of copying with issues of sustainability and sustainable development all around the world cannot exclude the common citizen that wants to engage in behavior change. Reaching the concerned citizen and being able to mobilize others to engage in behavior change towards a more sustainable consumption pattern demands free-of-charge Internet applications. Also small and medium enterprises may face difficulties to invest money in tools of managing information on sustainability. Thus corporations, governments and civil society organizations may explore this space in which markets may not provide a solution in the necessary timeframe. In these cases, institutions should support the development and maintenance of free Internet tools that help in the management of information and knowledge in the domain of sustainability.

CONCLUSION This chapter explores a theoretical perspective on knowledge to argue that Green ICT, including Internet interfaces, may improve the management of information and knowledge for sustainability and sustainable development. This perspective proposes that information systems offer resources for fostering the diffusion of tacit and explicit knowledge on the domain of sustainability. This is possible because Green ICT may offer from a more formalized interface, based on mathemati-

cal models, to cope with explicit knowledge, to a more flexible space of interaction and conversation, through social media tools – social networks, forums, blogs, Twitter and others. These virtual spaces, which may also be called virtual communities, provide opportunities for people clarifying doubts, sharing common interests and emotional support for engaging in topics related to changing behavior to foster sustainability. Through the diffusion of knowledge, Green ICT may foster behavior change, motivating people to modify their habits in the desired direction. The tools also may provide a platform for collaboration between users and service providers, benefiting thus all stakeholders involved in the creation and use of similar interfaces, as we can observe in the described case study. Microsoft Holm offers an interface which focuses only on energy consumption. However, considering this example, one could expect that similar tools and strategies would be successful in promoting the reduction of consumption of other resources and the production of waste. Microsoft Hohm shows an interesting approach to cope with complexity at the same time that simplification if provided, and to provide spaces for socialization through social media, which foster learning and behavior change through knowledge diffusion and identify and community building. Other initiatives may learn from Microsoft Holm, in terms of how to embed explicit knowledge in tools, how to simplify the information management on sustainability and sustainable development, and how to associate the more formalized tool with other social interfaces which emerge from the interactions through social media channels, thus fostering sharing of tacit knowledge.

REFERENCES Bell, S., & Morse, S. (2008). Sustainability indicators: Measuring the immeasurable? (2nd ed.). London: Earthscan.

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Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Davenport, T., & Prusak, L. (1998). Working knowledge: How organisations manage what they know. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Delanty, G. (2003). Community. London; New York, NY: Routledge. Graham, G. (1999). The Internet: A philosophical inquiry. London: Routledge. Haas, P. M., Kanie, N., & Murphy, C. N. (2004). Conclusion: Institutional design and institutional reform for sustainable development. In Kanie, N., & Haas, P. M. (Eds.), Emerging forces in environmental governance (pp. 263–281). Tokyo, New York, NY, Paris: United Nations University Press. Hislop, D. (2009). Knowledge management in organizations: A critical introduction. Oxford, New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Ipe, M. (2007). Sensemaking and the creation of social webs. In McInerney, C. R., & Day, R. E. (Eds.), Rethinking knowledge management: From knowledge objects to knowledge processes (pp. 227–246). Berlin, New York, NY: Springer. Kanie, N., & Haas, P. M. (2004). Introduction. In Kanie, N., & Haas, P. M. (Eds.), Emerging forces in environmental governance (pp. 1–12). Tokyo, New York, NY, Paris: United Nations University Press. Melnick, D., McNeely, J., & Navarro, Y. K. Schmidt-Traub, & G., Sears, R.R. (2005). Environmental and human well-being: A practical strategy. London, Sterling, Va.: United Nations Development Programme, Earthscan. Meraz, S. (2009). Is there an elite hold? Traditional media to social media agenda setting influence in blog networks. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(3), 682–707. doi:10.1111/ j.1083-6101.2009.01458.x

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Newell, S., Robertson, M., Scarbrough, H., & Swan, J. (2002). Managing knowledge work. New York, NY: Palgrave. Nonaka, I., & Konno, N. (1998). The concept of ‘Ba’: Building a foundation for knowledge creation. California Management Review, 40(3), 40–54. Pachauri, R. K., & Reisinger, A. (2008) (Eds.). Climate change 2007: Synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fourth assessment. Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC. Polanyi, M. (1983). The tacit dimension. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1967) Rheingold, H. (2000). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier (revised edition). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Original work published 1993) Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice – Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Behavior Change: Any sort of change in patterned, institutionalized behavior in society. In the context of this chapter, it is the adoption of new behavior which favors sustainability and sustainable development. Knowledge: A broader framework in human mind that is taken as truth and permits people to interpret the world and make sense of new events and information, creating new pieces of knowledge. Knowledge Management: Techniques and tools that support the management of knowledge in the organizational or societal levels. Social Media: All sorts of Internet applications that permit people to interact, such as forums,

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blogs, social networks (e.g. Facebook, MySpace and Orkut), Twitter, and Flickr, among others. Sustainability: The capacity of having a production model in the economic level that may be sustainable in the long term, without sacrificing the quality of life of future generations.

Sustainable Development: The efforts for developing economically countries or regions, respecting the criteria of sustainability. Virtual Communities: All sorts of social interactions that are mediated by Internet applications, especially those that are regular and respect sets of rules.

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Section 2

Technologies

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Chapter 21

Enhancing the Efficiency of ICT by Spatial Data Interoperability Otakar Cerba University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic Karel Charvat Czech Center for Science and Society, Czech Republic Jan Jezek University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic Stepan Kafka Help Service – Remote Sensing spol. s.r.o., Czech Republic

ABSTRACT In the present world of information and communication technologies (ICT) “Green ICT” represents a topic of immense interest. The meaning, sense and scope of Green ICT are quite varied and very wide. Hardware technologies, for example (virtualization of hardware) and corresponding methods are considered initiatives towards environment protection and sustainable growth. At the same time, however, improved development and implementation of existing tools influencing environment by implication (for example due to reducing travel costs or energy savings) are very important in terms of Green ICT. ICT solutions could also work as a device or medium of implementation of new environmentally friendly methods, for instance in agriculture or industry. Spatial data or data with a direct or indirect reference to a specific location or geographic area (INSPIRE Registry, 2009), like digital maps, data in navigation tools, are a significant means of correlating otherwise disparate sources of information. This chapter tries to show the relationship of spatial data and how it can benefit Green ICT. This relationship is vital, as spatial data plays a very important role in system and application (e.g. Geographic Information Systems) with the potential for making direct impact on environmental protection. Spatial data continues to be an integral part of common equipment like mobile phones, car navigation systems and computers. The numbers of these gadgets are constantly growing and so is the corresponding volume of spatial data sets. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch021

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Enhancing the Efficiency of ICT by Spatial Data Interoperability

Within the context of this rapid growth, the costs of data capture, management, updating, processing and distribution are increasing. For example the operation of servers containing the same spatial data sets is energy-consuming and results in burdening the influence on environment. Spatial data sharing, re-use and possibilities of interconnection of existing spatial data sources pose a solution. Therefore, the spatial data interoperability assurance (e.g. by private spatial data providers, state administration etc.) is required. The spatial data interoperability enables more efficient management and use of spatial data sets and achieving of desired savings.The principles of spatial data interoperability are described in the first part of this document. Emphasis is put on spatial data heterogeneities as the main problem of spatial data interoperability. Moreover, technologies focused on elimination of spatial data heterogeneities are discussed here. Subsequent paragraphs introduce selected instruments (metadata, schema languages, ontologies) which are based on data description and support data interoperability. The last section of this document is composed of examples of several international projects focused on spatial data description and processing of well-described spatial data through web services.

INTRODUCTION The contemporary world is frequently confronted with many pressing questions dealing with environment, security, sustainability and fair growth. Experts from all branches of human activity (e.g. geography, demography, risk management, security, policy, agriculture, industry, transport etc.) look into these questions and search for solutions and answers. During this search process, the information and knowledge based on data sets which represent the corner stone of information and communication technologies (ICT) is the most important instrument. The information, knowledge and data facilitate the effective targeting of relevant precautions or decisions. At present, the main problem does not lie in the quantity of information and knowledge. More to the contrary, the volume of data, information and knowledge grows practically uncontrollably. Therefore, the quality is more important, resulting in better or worse data, information and knowledge accessibility, usability and efficient management and decision making. In our view the data quality means above all interoperability support, including data sharing, possibility of combination with other data sets and implementation of software and hardware products regardless of platforms, operation systems, provid-

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ers or licenses. High-quality data must fulfill the above-mentioned conditions without reference to data sources, data providers, state borders, scales, used technologies and platforms, data models, organization structures, legislative rules, end-user requirements, data types, data formats etc. The need for interoperable data is due to the necessity of cooperation among data providers, data processors and end-users on all levels, in all countries, economic sectors or types of economics. Therefore, just the use of such data sets leads to savings in the domains of finance, energy, personal and time sources and cost reduction. Obviously, such achievements implicitly mean environment protection and support of sustainable growth. Thus, for instance, implementation of following recommendations of more efficient data use could lead to elimination of physical traveling. There is no need to adjust, modify or customize spatial data sets or software at the customer. Thereby the amount of greenhouse gasses would be reduced. There are two very important documents of European Union proving importance of questions of cooperation on the field of efficient data use and re-use including spatial data. 1. Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14

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March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) 2. PSI DIRECTIVE 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on the re-use of public sector information This chapter tries to show the relationship of spatial data, data interoperability and Green ICT. According to (Murugesan, 2008) green computing or green IT refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is “the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communication systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. Green IT also strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. Thus, green IT includes the dimensions of environmental sustainability, economics of energy efficiency, and total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. It is a study and practice of using computing resources efficiently.” It could seem like a marginal topic because the term “Green ICT” is often connected with technologies and methods going directly towards environment protection and sustainable growth. (e.g. production of greener hardware). But it is necessary to realize that spatial data play very important role in different systems and applications (e.g. Geographic Information Systems) making a direct impact on environment protection. As an example agriculture could be mentioned, where mainly future changes associated with precision farming and implementation of new environmental friendly methods will require new solutions based on geoinformation technologies (GIT) (Charvat & Gnip 2009). In addition, spatial data are frequently a part of common equipment like mobile phones, car navigation systems, comput-

ers etc. The number of these tools is constantly growing as well as the volume of spatial data sets. Within the context of this rapid growth, the costs of data capture, management, updating, processing and distribution are increasing. For example the operation of servers containing the same spatial data sets is energy-consuming with burdening influence on environment. Spatial data sharing, re-use and possibilities of interconnection of existing spatial data sources pose a solution. Therefore, the spatial data interoperability assurance is required. The spatial data interoperability enables more efficient management and use of spatial data sets and achieving of desired savings. The main characteristics and importance of spatial data including the question of their interoperability are described in the first part of this document. The following paragraphs introduce three selected instruments (metadata, XML schema languages, ontologies) which are based on data description and strongly support data interoperability. The last section of this document is composed of examples of several international projects focused on elimination of spatial data heterogeneities, improving spatial data interoperability and spatial data description. The paper also deals with spatial data sharing and re-use in the terms of Green ICT through spatial data description and processing of well-described spatial data through web services and other automated tools.

SPATIAL DATA AND INTEROPERABILITY Why have spatial data been selected for illustration of benefits and cost reductions achieved through right and efficient production, usage and distribution of digital data? How are spatial data defined? Do spatial data not represent only a small part of all data sets? Are spatial data not used only in a few marginal branches of human activity? Are spatial data important merely for experts or also for public? Are the results presented in this docu-

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ment significant only under the terms of academic research? Following sections should answer the above-mentioned questions. Defining the term of spatial data is rather complicated. This difficulty is caused by the fact that except for the adjective “spatial” other attributes like geo-, geographic or geospatial are used. The reason for using the term “spatial data” in this publication is the compliance with INSPIRE directive. INSPIRE Glossary (INSPIRE Registry, 2009) defines spatial data as “data with a direct or indirect reference to a specific location or geographic area”. 70% - 100% of all data sets have spatial component. It means that apart from attribute information and in some examples temporal (time) information such data contain spatial aspects. Spatial components facilitate location of objects, processes or phenomena, their shape and relationship to other parts of data. Spatial data sets as a model of real world represent the fundamental cornerstone of all geoinformation technologies (GIT), applications and services. GIT have become common part of everyday life in modern society. Let us mention navigation systems in cars, cartographic visualization of spatial data in mass media, maps for mobile equipment, map servers or Earth browser applications (e.g. Google maps or Google Earth). GIT systems are used in network management,

transport, state administration and other institutions and organizations influencing global society. GIT and spatial data play an important role in research and education processes. A close relationship of GIT and environment protection is obvious. GIT tools are used to monitor changes of environment, analyze these changes, prevent environmental disasters and eliminate their effects. According to the publication (Cada & Mildorf, 2005), about 80% of costs connected with building of Geography Information System (GIS as a main representative of GIT) come under financial means spent on spatial data. Remaining financial means are divided into software (15%) and hardware (5%). Therefore, any cost reductions related directly to spatial data represent very important cost reductions of the complete GI systems. We can apply four views on the spatial data. 1. Spatial data as a part of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) 2. Spatial data as a part of modeling process 3. Spatial data as a part of common data 4. Spatial data and their structure Spatial data represent one component of SDI. SDI is composed of interconnected spatial data, metadata, tools (including software, technologies, policies, methods, standards etc.) and users

Figure 1. Spatial data infrastructure influences Green ICT through interoperability

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(Figure 1). SDI should facilitate using of spatial data in an efficient and flexible way. Designing, building and administration of SDI represents our approach to interconnection of spatial data and Green ICT, because the aims of SDI lead to more efficient usage of spatial data sources, which results in the different types of reductions. The second view on spatial data is focused on modeling process according to ANSI/SPARC three level architecture (Tsichritzis, D. & Kluge, A., 1978). Data represent the last, the most abstract and the most formalized item of this process (Figure 2). In analogy with common data, it is possible to differentiate syntactic (form of coding) and semantic (meaning) aspects of the data. The last type of spatial data view is focused on the internal structure of spatial data. Spatial data have a large number of different properties which could be divided into 4 groups. This selection of properties is based on following publications – (Annoni et al., 2008), (Cada & Mildorf, 2005), (Directive 2007/2/EC), (ISO 19115:2003):

Frequency of updating, Types of updated information. ◦⊦ Data distribution: License, Price, Data provider or distributor. ◦⊦ Data presentation: Visualization model, Multiple representation. ◦⊦ Technical parameters of data storage and distribution: Medium, Data format. 2. Properties of spatial components of data: Used units, Precision, Granularity, Consistency, Reliability, Spatial scope, Geometry – data representation (spatial representation), Dimension, Topology, Geodetic datum. 3. Properties of temporal (time) components of data: Used units, Precision, Granularity, Consistency, Reliability, Time scope. 4. Properties of attribute (descriptive) components of data: Used units, Precision, Granularity, Consistency, Reliability, Theme of attributes, Terminology, Classification systems, Identifier management, Registries, Feature catalogues (description of attributes).

1. Common properties of data: ◦⊦ Support of interoperability and accessibility: Multilinguality, Cultural adaptability, Metadata, Legislative conformance, Relationships to other data, Data model(s). ◦⊦ Data origin: Data character (measure or processed data), Method(s) used for data capture, Data management,

The main problem of all GI systems is not based on spatial data quantity. An issue of growing importance, however, is the question of spatial data quality including possibilities of their sharing and combining of spatial data originated from different sources. In the world of GIT the activities associated with automated spatial data processing (including sensor data or remote sensing data) appear very frequently. Concretely, the spatial data

Figure 2. Data modeling process

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processing rate and the possibilities of spatial data selection based on externals are accentuated. There is the request for making the acquisition, processing and evaluation of the spatial data originated in different sources as effective as possible. The web services, data harmonization or context mapping are ranked among such activities. These concrete methods uniquely aim at the interoperability (possibility for spatial data sets to be combined, and for services to interact, without repetitive manual intervention, in such a way that the result is coherent and the added value of the data sets and services is enhanced – INSPIRE Registry, 2009) and all advantages implicit in interoperability (e.g. large possibilities of data sharing etc.). The interconnection of interoperable system, data and services leading to the building of Spatial Data Infrastructure, which means a framework of spatial data, metadata, users and tools that are interactively connected in order to use spatial data in an efficient and flexible way, is the final goal. There are two domains significantly influenced by SDI: data accessibility and processing – combination of spatial data from different sources, spatial data sharing, application of different types of hardware and software, understanding of data sense and meaning. Figure 3 shows an example of two non-interoperable data sets. In the two

pictures the borders of forest do not correspond to each other because there are heterogeneities in geometry and precision. According to Figure 1, the fundamental requirement of interconnection of spatial data and Green ICT through SDI is to enable spatial data to be integrated to SDI. Figure 1 shows that separate spatial data sets must be interoperable. In other words they must be allowed to combine with each other and must be accessible through different tools including web services. Data interoperability is (must be) related to all components of data modeling process and all data components. In terms of this publication the semantic and syntactic interoperability and also interoperability of all levels of models is important and necessary for SDI building.

SPATIAL DATA DESCRIPTION IMPROVES INTEROPERABILITY Contemporary global society and above all economics are dependent upon interconnection and sharing of information, including spatial data and spatial knowledge. In this regard, building of SDI is necessary because it allows combining of spatial data sets and processing services from

Figure 3. Examples of heterogeneities of geometry of spatial data used in forestry (Cerba et al. 2008)

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different providers. Cost decrease on operable SDI follows, since users will not be obliged to keep and administer large sets of spatial data and robust processing systems. They will buy and hire just such components of SDI that they really need. This section tries to find a way to spatial data interoperability through different types of data description. How can interoperable spatial data sets be established? Two diametrically opposed approaches can be used for spatial data harmonization to eliminate spatial data heterogeneities and to reach spatial data interoperability. 1. Implementation of uniform rules This way is not a perspective one because the number and variability of users, providers and processors are very large. It is impossible to establish, implement, manage and control rules and standards convenient for all users. This approach could be suitable only for concrete small domains (e.g. mobile operators in Bingemann, 2010) or user groups. 2. Facilitation of mapping and transformation of different data sets and data models Data mapping and transformation rules represent a more realistic method. The quality and level of such rules depend on data description because thanks to knowledge and information obtained from data description harmonization rules can be defined in a clear and understandable way. Higher level of spatial data description (quality and quantity) leads to easier automated spatial data harmonization and higher level of spatial data interoperability. In reality (e.g. INSPIRE directive) both approaches are combined because the relationship of restriction and harmonization rules is efficient and useful. Description of spatial data sets (e.g. ontologies, metadata, vocabularies and thesauruses,

data models like for example UML models, data formats, XML Schema languages) supports interoperability because it makes spatial data more clear and understandable both to humans and computers . In analogy to interoperability, data description must be related to all components of data modeling process and all data components. Three types of description tools were selected to show benefits of common spatial data description to Green ICT. They are metadata, XML Schema languages and ontologies (see Figure 4). We prefer these tools for the following reasons: •

•

•

All selected tools are standardized and strongly supported by major international organization (e.g. World Wide Web Consortium -W3C or International Organization for Standardization/ International Electrotechnical Committee – ISO/IEC). Ontology and metadata format are filed into the geosemantic standards (Lieberman & Goad, 2008). They interfere with different levels of data models, semantic and syntactic. They describe the meaning and vocabulary of spatial data. They are implemented and used in many concrete projects and activities.

Metadata International standard ISO 19115 (ISO 19115:2003) defines metadata as “data about data”. Metadata represent the fundamental and the most frequently used descriptive element of spatial data. Metadata are used for the purpose of adding semantic information to spatial data or concrete elements of spatial data sets. Within the context of the start of Service Oriented Architecture, metadata are connected not only with spatial data but with web services, too. Spatial metadata are distinguished from common metadata by implicit or explicit spatial components. Spatial metadata contain information on spatial data identification, legal

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Figure 4. Place of ontologies, XML Schema languages and metadata in the syntax-semantics data modeling

and security constraints, content, reference system, spatial representation, quality, and validity (Reuvers, M. & Aalders, H. J. G. L. 2008). There are three components of effective use of spatial metadata (Reuvers, M. & Aalders, H. J. G. L. 2008): •

• •

A set of commonly understood terms that are used to describe the content of information resources A standard grammar for connecting those terms into meaningful metadata concepts A framework that allows the transfer and recombination of those metadata concepts across different applications and subjects

Metadata are important to users (information on authors, update, responsibility etc.), but their key role is automated searching of spatial data resources and their verification based on specific requirements like keywords, name, last update or spatial coverage. There are significant benefits of metadata usage towards Green ICT (SDI Cookbook, 2004):

308

•

•

•

•

•

•

Metadata help organize and maintain an organization’s investment in data and provide information about an organization’s data holdings in catalogue form Coordinated metadata development avoids duplication of effort by ensuring the organization is aware of the existence of data sets Users can locate all available geospatial and associated data relevant to an area of interest Collection of metadata builds upon and enhances the data management procedures of the geospatial community Reporting of descriptive metadata promotes the availability of geospatial data beyond the traditional geospatial community Data providers are able to advertise and promote the availability of their data and potentially link to on-line services (e.g. text reports, images, web mapping and ecommerce) that relate to their specific data sets

Similarly to other spheres of spatial data description, metadata are defined by one universal

Enhancing the Efficiency of ICT by Spatial Data Interoperability

standard describing all metadata elements, entities and sections. Spatial data are most frequently described by international standard ISO 19115 (ISO 19115:2003) and other related standards (e.g. Service metadata /ISO 19119/, Feature catalogue /ISO 19110/ or Dublin Core Metadata /ISO 15836/). European directive INSPIRE also contains some claims on design, building and using of metadata, but they are not identical to the above-mentioned standard.

XML Schema Languages XML Schema languages are intended for a definition of concrete subset XML (Extensible Markup Language) language – a formal definition of a new markup language or format. XML Schema languages enable defining of elements of format or language (e.g. elements, attributes, entities, their limits and restrictions). They are important in terms of syntactic view on spatial data. Except for the formal definition of new languages the XML Schema languages are used for validation of documents, creation of PSVI (Post-Schema Validation Infoset), databinding, better manipulation with documents through different editors and building of documentation materials (Kosek, 2005). There are many different formats used in the sense of XML Schema languages (e.g. XML-Data, Document Structure Description, Schematron or TREX – Tree Regular Expressions for XML). Following formats are ranked among the most used and important XML Schema languages in the world of ICT – Document Type Definition (DTD), W3C XML Schema and RELAX NG (Regular Language Description for XML - Next Generation). The Table 1 shows the main differences of these three languages. The language RELAX NG represents a very interesting variant of XML Schema. It arose from two older languages (TREX and RELAX). RELAX NG is one of the components of larger initiative called Document Schema Definition Languages (DSDL, ISO/IEC 19757). This initia-

tive tries to describe all parameters of syntactic structure of data. It means • • • • • • • •

Regular-grammars (RELAX NG focuses on this part) Rules Namespaces Data Types Path-based integrity constraints Character Repertoire Document Schema Renaming Interconnection to DTD.

Validation processes enabled by spatial data description through XML Schema languages represent one of the methods facilitating more efficient spatial data treatment leading to the above mentioned savings connected with Green ICT. Valid data pose the main condition of spatial data processing through web services and other automated procedures. In other words valid spatial data contribute significantly to SDI building. In the GIT sphere the XML Schema languages are used for establishment of some exchange formats like Geography Markup Language (GML) or LandXML.

Ontologies The publication (Lemmens, 2008) mentions following important aspects of building, maintaining, and using of a semantic infrastructure, including SDIs: 1. Ontology creation and access 2. Ontology integration 3. Ontology-based description of information sources (annotation) 4. Reasoning-based information retrieval, semantic translations, and information integration/fusion 5. Creation and use of ontology meta-information (information about ontologies)

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Table 1. Comparison of DTD, W3C XML Schema and RELAX NG (van der Vlist, 2005) Property

DTD

W3C XML Schema

RELAX NG

Author

W3C

W3C

OASIS RELAX NG TC & ISO DSDL WG

PSVI

yes

yes

no

Structure

yes

yes

yes

Data types

yes (weak)

yes

no (pluggable)

Integrity rules

local with restrictions

local

yes

Other rules

no

no

no

Vendor support

excellent

potentially excellent

improving

Ontologies represent one of the components of the Semantic Web. According to Thomas Gruber (Gruber, 1993) ontology means “a specification of a conceptualization”. Ontologies describe data on the level of conceptual model and they hamper problems connected with system uncertainty. The main reason for implementation of ontologies to GIT is to enable spatial data sharing and re-using on the most abstract level. Therefore, ontologies support work with common knowledge and information independent on concrete data structures. In the paper (Svatek, 2002) ontologies are divided into three groups – terminology ontologies (hierarchy of term, including relationships like synonyms etc.), information ontologies (extension of database schemes) and knowledge ontologies (logic theories independently combined with real objects). Examples of real applications of ontologies on a domain using spatial data are published in publication (Kavouras & Kokla, 2008). In terms of concrete formats used for coding of ontologies following languages based on Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL) and standardized by W3C are currently used for description of ontology structures (van Harmelen, 2008): •

310

RDF: expressing binary relations between objects, and expressing that an object belongs to a given type (or class)

•

•

•

•

RDF Schema: arranging these classes and properties in a class and property inheritance hierarchy (superclass – subclass), and stating that properties have certain types as their domain and range OWL Lite: expressing (in)equalities between individuals, between classes, and between properties, and stating algebraic properties of properties (transitivity, symmetry, inverse functionality, etc.), 0/1 restrictions on cardinality, and range of properties OWL DL: definition of classes by enumeration, algebraic operations on classes (intersection, union, complement), stating disjointedness of classes, arbitrary cardinality restrictions on properties OWL Full: introduces no new language constructions, but is more liberal in the way these constructions are combined (for example, using classes as instances of other classes).

SMART DATA IN PRAXIS Previous chapters are focused on theoretical view on spatial data, spatial data heterogeneities and spatial data description as one way towards spatial data sharing and re-using. Approaches to elimination or removing of spatial data heterogeneities

Enhancing the Efficiency of ICT by Spatial Data Interoperability

through spatial data description could have impact upon spatial data producers, spatial data users, software and service producers. It can contribute toward environment protection and green activities in ICT through re-use, easier searching, sharing or combining. But theoretical theses are very poor and insufficient without practical examples of concrete applications and implementations. Following paragraphs contain short introductions of international projects that some of the authors of this paper have been or are involved in. These projects have been focused on spatial data harmonization, processing of harmonized spatial data sets through web services or improving of communication among spatial data users.

Project Humboldt Project Humboldt (www.esdi-humboldt.eu) will contribute to the implementation of an ESDI (European Spatial Data Infrastructure) that integrates all the diversity of spatial data available from the multitude of European organizations. It is the aim of this project to manage and advance the implementation process of this ESDI. To achieve this objective and to maximize the benefits gained from this integration, the requirements of INSPIRE, of GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), of the environmental agencies and of other related activities in the EU will be met. To enable ESDI building, the Humboldt project suggests an optimized, community-centered implementation process. The main goal of the project Humboldt is to enable organizations to combine, share, document, publish and harmonize spatial data. The developed software tools, services and processes will demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of relationship of SDI. Besides a technologically focused framework which will be developed in Humboldt project, the project will also set up a number of scenarios which will use the developed framework components in real-world conditions and which will be used as promoters for the target users of the project.

The development of Humboldt scenarios (e.g. Forest, Urban Planning, Border Security, Ocean, Environmental Risk Atlas – EriskA etc.) is the essential part of the whole Humboldt project. The scenarios are a test bed and a community-driven research environment, which will assist in the development and promotion of the project’s objectives. (Humboldt project websites, Cepicky et al. 2009a, Cepicky et al. 2009b, Cerba et al. 2009a) The Humboldt project makes for Green ICT through following activities: •

•

•

•

Many scenarios are focused directly on environmental question (e.g. Urban Planing, Urban Atlas, Forest, EriskA etc.). Tools developed in the framework of Humboldt project are free and could be used in the environmental sphere. Humboldt tools (e.g. Humboldt Alignment Editor – HALE – tool for data models transformation) support spatial data harmonization and interoperability. Their implementation could lead to reduction of spatial data redundancy and to consequential savings. An architecture which is used in Humboldt projects and which is based on web services supports only exploitation of necessary data sets and processing services. Users are not forced to buying, administration and keeping of robust software solutions.

Plan4all The objective of project Plan4all – European Network of Best Practices for Interoperability of Spatial Planning Information (www.plan4all. eu) is to build a network of local, regional and national public bodies, stakeholders, ICT industry, organizations dealing with planning issues and regional development, universities and international organizations. Other goals are to find consensus about harmonization of SDI for spatial planning according to INSPIRE directive and also to con-

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tribute to standardization of related data themes from INSPIRE annexes (e.g. land cover, land use etc.). The project uses experience from previous projects like Armonia, Humboldt, eSDInet+ or EURADIN, the partners of which are also present in team. Plan4all is focused on the harmonization of metadata, and spatial data of spatial planning and building networking infrastructure for sharing spatial planning data based on the existing best practices in regions and municipalities of the EU, but also on the base of results of current standardization activities defined by OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) and W3C. The elimination of some factors of heterogeneity cannot be based on creation of some uniform rules and data models, since the unification of all characteristics of spatial planning is impossible. There are too many partners with individual requirements. All subjects of spatial planning process have their own problems and interests, which makes them unable to care about spatial data heterogeneity. Software producers and distributors keep a dependency of customers on their software by creating their own proprietary data models. Other groups, data processors (GIS departments of regions or municipalities), data providers and users (planners, architects, public), are connected with concrete software products and every change of used software means increase in costs (new software, training, conversion of existing data sets and generally new hardware). An uniform data model of spatial planning could possibly be implemented. Yet presently this is quite improbable, since such implementation depends on a legislative decision. Therefore, the Plan4all project is focused on spatial data description in terms of data models and metadata profiles of seven selected INSPIRE themes from Annexes I and II.(Plan4all project webpages, Cerba et al. 2009a, Cerba et al. 2009b, Cerba et al. 2009c) The Plan4all project makes for Green ICT through following activities:

312

•

•

•

INSPIRE compliance contributes to savings in many ways (e.g. spatial data, software, travel or energy cost reductions). Some INSPIRE themes which are modeled in Plan4all project are intent directly on environmental questions. Implementation of the best practices and existing attested solutions means the more efficient exploitation of different sources, including spatial data and processing services.

FUTURE DIRECTION AND INSIGHT More efficient realization of above mentioned activities through building of SDI. It represents one of the main current development processes on the field of geoinformation sciences aiming at higher level of interoperability and more efficient use of spatial data sets. SDI is very important in terms of business (cost reductions), users (easier searching, combining and sharing of spatial data from different sources, data processing services – service oriented architecture), data providers (updating processes) and software and services producers (implementation of new technologies based on web services and expert systems). SDI and its implementation lead to cost reduction of spatial data, software and hardware. Users will not need to buy, update, manage, administer and carry on large spatial data sets and robust computer systems with rarely used although very expensive software. They will buy or hire just concrete necessary data and services as part of SDI. SDI is all about re-use: re-use of data, re-use of technical capabilities, re-use of skills developed, and re-use of invested intellectual effort and capital. Re-use minimizes the initial system-wide investment needed by cooperators to benefit fully from spatial data and information, ‘sharing not wearing’ the costs and helping to realize more rapid returns on investment. Implementing a SDI also means

Enhancing the Efficiency of ICT by Spatial Data Interoperability

learning from the experience of others and avoiding pitfalls (Boccardo et al., 2008). Building of SDI should not be connected with designing of new standards as shown in the previous quotation. Such activities represent just wasted expenditures without any effect related to real savings and energy conservation. The main approach to building of SDI is to design such transformation and mapping procedures and tools based on different types of data description that allows heterogeneous data structures to be converted and combined. Also combinations of existing standards (data models, metadata profiles) and their extensions (connected with detailed documentation) support interoperability and SDI. It is necessary to mention the role of markup languages and technologies based on XML (e.g. XML Namespaces). These technologies are very important in terms of accessibility, modularity and independence (Harold 2001). A more efficient realization of above mentioned activities through the building of SDI should lead to significant cost reductions in manpower, new data sets, software or hardware. SDI and interoperability on the data level should have the following benefits (Cerba et al. 2009b): • • • • • •

• • •

No duplicities in data and no redundant data sets Clear origin and assurance of data quality Data structure standardization Data purity, security and structure uniformity Better data manipulation Reciprocal data accessing per web services according to the standards of Open Geospatial Consortium – Web Map Service (WMS), Web Feature Service (WFS), Web Coverage Service (WCS) and CSW. Fall of data updating and maintenance costs Better software development Better source exploitation

• •

Improvement of chances in communication with other subjects Better utilization and commercialization of spatial data

In order to build and improve SDI and its parts, new projects must be formed. In addition, it is necessary to coordinate existing activities, since the relationship of SDI and more efficient and “green” using of spatial data is very close. The new projects and activities should be focused not only on building SDI components, standards, spatial data description, but also on education (like the newly formed project SDI-EDU) including further education, professional education, tertiary education, retraining and professional re-qualification. The speed and quality of SDI construction depend also on legislative processes. They cover creation of laws connected with SDI, adoption of existing standards, their implementation and preparation of other conditions and environment of SDI.

CONCLUSION This chapter tries to introduce one of the large number of views on possibilities to improve information and communication technologies in terms of environment and its protection. The constantly accruing volume of the data with spatial aspects requires new capacities for data capture, their processing, management, distribution and presentation. Rational administration and purposeful exploitation of sources including spatial data and tools for their processing should be a leading goal of sustainable development of society. Spatial data interoperability and building of SDI based on service-oriented architecture and standardized exchange formats represent a way to reach a rational administration and purposeful exploitation of spatial data sources. SDI and interoperability mean an interconnection of GIT and e-activities (e.g. e-commerce, e-government etc.), too. They could also bridge a gap over GIT

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and semantic web technologies like Semantic Web, Web 2.0 and other initiatives. Green ICT in the light of spatial data means re-using of existing spatial data sets and their sharing. It is conditioned by detailed and meaningful description of spatial data allowing development of automated harmonization processes. It can be declared that SDI as implementation of spatial data description is one of the ways to Green ICT within the meaning of reduction of costs, energy, time etc.

REFERENCES Annoni, A., Friis-Christensen, A., Lucchi, R., & Lutz, M. (2008). Requirements and Challenges for Building a European Spatial Information Infrastructure: INSPIRE. In van Oosterom & P., Zlatanova, S. (Eds.) Creating Spatial Information Infrastructures. Towards the Spatial Semantic Web. London: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. Bingemann, M. (2010). Mobile operators including Singtel, AT&T and Vodafone to build own apps platform. Australian IT. Retrieved March 5, 2010, from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ australian -it/mobile-operators-including-singtelatt-and-vodafone-to-build-own-apps-standard/ story-e6frgakx-1225830825406. Boccardo, P., & Tonolo, F. G. (2008). Natural disaster management: Activities in support of the UN system. In Li, Chen & Baltsavias (eds), Advances in Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences: 2008 ISPRS Congress Book, 2008, Taylor & Francis Group, London. Cada, V., & Mildorf, T. (2005). Delimitation of reference geodata from land data model. GIS Ostrava 2005. Ostrava: VŠB - TUO, 2005. s. 1-12.

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Cepicky, J., Cerba, O., Charvat, K., Jezek, J., & Mildorf, T. (2009b). Web Services and Data Harmonisation for Spatial Planning. In J. Hřebíček, J. Hradec, E. Pelikán, O. Mírovský, W. Pillmann, I.Holoubek, T. Bandholtz (eds.), European conference of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU TOWARDS eENVIRONMENT. Opportunities of SEIS and SISE: Integrating Environmental Knowledge in Europe, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 2009. Cepicky, J., Cerba, O., Fryml, J., Charvat, K., & Posposil, M. (2009a). Humboldt Scenario Forest – Practical Example Forestry Data Harmonisation. In J. Hřebíček, J. Hradec, E. Pelikán, O. Mírovský, W. Pillmann, I.Holoubek, T. Bandholtz (eds.), European conference of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU TOWARDS eENVIRONMENT. Opportunities of SEIS and SISE: Integrating Environmental Knowledge in Europe, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 2009. Cerba, O., Charvat, K., Jedlicka, K., & Mildorf, T. (2009c). Plan4all se představuje. Paper presented at II. Národní kongres České asociace pro geoinformace. Geoinformační infrastruktury pro praxi, Brno, Czech Republic, 2009. Cerba, O., Charvat, K., Kafka, S., & Mildorf, T. (2009a). Spatial Planning – Example of European Integration of Public Data. Paper presented at 7th Eastern European e|Gov Days: eGovernment & eBusiness Ecosystem & eJustice, April (22) - 23 - 24, 2009 Prague, Czech Republic. Cerba, O., Charvat, K., Kafka, S., & Mildorf, T. (2009b). International Cooperation on Spatial Planning. Paper presented at IST-Africa 2009, 6.-8. 5. 2009, Kampala, Uganda. Cerba, O., Mildorf, T., Charvat, K., Fryml, J., Podlena, R., & Pospisil, M. (2008). Project Humboldt - Spatial Data Harmonisation. Proceedings 1. Sofia: International Cartographic Association, 2008. s. 67-73.

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Charvat, K., & Gnip, P. (2009). Analysis of external drivers for farm management and their influences on farm management information systems. Paper presented at Joint International Agricultural Conference, 6.-8. July 2009, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Liberman, J., & Goad, C. (2008). Geosemantic Web for the Spatial Information Infrastructure. Nice to Have or Hopeless Without? In van Oosterom & P., Zlatanova, S. Creating Spatial Information Infrastructures. Towards the Spatial Semantic Web. London: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.

Developing Spatial Data Infrastructures. The SDI Cookbook. Version 2.0. 25 January 2004. Retrieved October 10, 2009, from http://www.gsdi. org/docs2004/Coo kbook/cookbookV2.0.pdf.

Murugesan, S. (2008). Harnessing Green IT: Principles and Practices. IT Pro (vol. 10 no. 1) pp. 24-33. IEEE Computer Society, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www2.computer. org/portal/ web/csdl/doi/10.1109/MITP.2008.10.

Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE). Geographic information — Metadata. Information géographique — Métadonnées . ISO 19115:2003. ISO, 2003. Gruber, T. R. (1993). A Translation Approach to Portable Ontology Specifications. Knowledge Acquisition, 5(2), 199–220. doi:10.1006/ knac.1993.1008 Harold, E. R. (2001). XML Bible (2nd ed.). New York: Hungry Minds, Inc. Kavouras, M., & Kokla, M. (2008). Theories of Geographic Concepts. Ontological Approaches to Semantic Integration. London: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. Kosek, J. (2005). XML schemata. www.kosek. cz, 2003-2005 Jiri Kosek. Retrieved September 20, 2009, from http://www.kosek.cz/xml/schema/ index.html. Lemmens, R. (2008). Using Formal Semantics for Services within the Spatial Information Infrastructure. In van Oosterom & P., Zlatanova, S. Creating Spatial Information Infrastructures. Towards the Spatial Semantic Web. London: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.

Registry, I. N. S. P. I. R. E. Glossary. European Commission, 1995-2009. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from http://inspire-registry.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ registers/GLOSSARY. Reuvers, M., & Aalders, H. J. G. L. (2008). Metadata and Spatial Searching as Key Spatial Information Infrastructure Component. Future Standardization Developments. In van Oosterom & P., Zlatanova, S. Creating Spatial Information Infrastructures. Towards the Spatial Semantic Web. London: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. Svatek, V. (2002). Ontologie a WWW. Paper presented at DATAKON 2002, Brno, 19.-22.10.2002. Retrieved April 7, 2009 from http://nb.vse. cz/~svatek/onto-www.pdf. Tsichritzis, D. & Kluge, A. (1978). The ANSI/X3/ SPARC DBMS Framework: Report of the Study Group on Database Management Systems. Information Systems 3, APIPS Press, 1978. van der Vlist, E. (2005). XML schema languages compared. Xmlprague a conference on XML. Prague: Institute for Theoretical Computer Science, Charles University. van Harmelen, F. (2008). Semantic Web Technologies as the Foundation for the Information Infrastructure. In van Oosterom & P., Zlatanova, S. Creating Spatial Information Infrastructures. Towards the Spatial Semantic Web. London: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Spatial Data: Data with a direct or indirect reference to a specific location or geographic area. Spatial Data Infrastructure: The technology, policies, standards, human resources, and related activities necessary to acquire, process, distribute, use, maintain, and preserve spatial data. Interoperability: The ability of systems, units, or forces to provide data, information, material, and services and accept the same from other systems, units, or forces, and to use the data, information, material, and services exchanged in a way to enable them to operate effectively together.

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Data Harmonization: Making data sets of similar scope identical or minimizing the differences between them. Metadata: Metadata is structured information that describes and allows us to find, manage, control and understand other information. XML Schema Languages: They make possible to define and describe any subset of XML – a formal definition of a new markup language or format (e.g. elements, attributes, entities, their limits and restrictions). XML schema languages are able to control the structure of data file. Ontology: Formal representation of a set of concepts within a domain and the relationships between those concepts.

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Chapter 22

Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry for Sustainable Development Dilupa Ranatunga University of Colombo, Sri Lanka Rasika Withanage University of Wales, UK Dinesh Arunatileka University of Western Sydney, Australia & University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT An important factor in green ICT challenges is to reduce the creation and emission of green house gases by all means. This chapter is concentrating on how telecommunication network operators could operate in a very much more environment friendly way by co-existing with their fellow operators by way of sharing infrastructure such as towers and power generators which will reduce the emission of green house gases. The chapter has described the impact and the magnitude of telecom infrastructure on the environment and the ways that can be practised in order to reduce the emission of green house gases.

INTRODUCTION There is currently a worldwide concern about global warming caused specifically by the CO2 fuelled greenhouse effect and the role that pollution plays in weather and environment. Some scientists say global warming is also intensifying naturally depicted through extreme weather patterns like DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch022

typhoons, floods, severe droughts, changes in sea levels and marine biology (Lu, H. 2009). Telecommunications is an essential component of development in today’s context and has one of the highest growth rates in the world. Therefore, “green” movement in the telecom industry is essential to us all. As energy prices soar, telecommunication network operators are even more motivated to scrutinize their expendi-

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Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry

tures and evaluate their environmental and social responsibilities. In practice, the energy usage can be calculated into CO2 emissions. One kilowatthour can be converted into about 0.658 Kg CO2 emission (In-stat. 2009). Our main focus in this chapter would be to look at how base stations in the telecommunication networks could be made greener so that environment will be cleaner for the future generations. Aside from the energy usage closely associated with the operation of base station equipment, the use of other resources and materials can also be calculated by the emission of CO2. The consumption of raw materials and field-consumption can be converted into CO2 emission as follows. 1. Material usage refers to the energy used to produce the steel and concrete to build the base stations, which can be converted into CO2 emissions. 2. The decrease of forest area brought about by the field consumption of base stations can also be converted into CO2 emissions. (In-Stat. 2009). To assume one normal base station can be used for 5 years, the gross emissions would be 211 tons of CO2. One-time consumption of raw

material or field occupation can be calculated into CO2 emissions, and then distributed across a 5-year cycle. As illustrated in Figure 1, the total CO2 emission volumes can be broken down by operation energy usage (including main equipment, ancillary equipment, and other equipment) and the one-time consumption (raw material and field occupation). As shown in Table 1 base station sites consume up to 90% of the energy in the network. Hence maximum sharing of land, towers, power and shelters will effect the highest possible reduction in the energy consumption. Thus it will be the best approach to minimize the CO2 emissions in the telecommunication industry. The following calculation shows the CO2 emission for a tower built; Manufacturing 1 tonne of steel produce 0.04 metric tons of CO2 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency2003). Average weight of a 70m tower (three leaded) is 17 tones (The Ministry of industry of the Republic of Belarus. 2008). Total CO2 emission when manufacturing a 60m tower= 0.068metric tones.

Figure 1. Energy usage of each component in the mobile networks (Adopted Source In-Stat)

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Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry

Table 1. Estimate for annual global CO2 emissions of mobile network elements 0.1W

1KW

10KW

Users

Constructing Mobile Phone Networks

Core Network

3 Billion Mobile Phones

3 million telecommunication towers

10,000 Core Network equipments

0.2 GW Power consumption

4.5 GW power consumption

0.1 GW power consumption

Produce 1 Mt of CO2

Produce 20 Mt of CO2

Produce 0.5 Mt of CO2

Adopted Source: Nokia Siemens Networks

KEY APPROACHES TO DECREASE CO2 EMISSIONS There are numerous ways to minimize the environmental impact caused by the telecommunication & its related industries. However this chapter will be mainly focusing on two main initiatives which telecommunication network operators should adopt in order to reduce CO2 emission & environmental impact. These are: • •

Telecommunication Infrastructure sharing Renewable energy usage

Telecommunications Infrastructure Sharing Telecommunications Infrastructure sharing is the sharing the infrastructure built by one operator with others. This has become essential as more and more countries have de-regulated the telecom-

munication industry and there are more private operators entering the market. Especially in the South Asian countries, where operators tend to build their own networks. The situation in worsened due to the fact that most these operators use either GSM or CDMA technology which needs towers across the coverage. Although towers can be shared by these operators, the tendency is to built their own network with own towers in order to be more competitive. The Table 2 is built on the complexity of tower sharing in a competitive market environment in order to minimize the erection of towers which is a main contributor towards CO2 emissions. And also depicts the hierarchy of approaches to network sharing and complexity option of what to share. The complexity of the situation starts with the minimum where passive infrastructure sharing happens and increases its complexity as table developed towards the active infrastructure sharing.

Table 2. Telecom Asia; GSMA Complexity

Option

What to share

Lowest

Site and tower sharing

Existing and new-built sites; existing and new towers

Passive infrastructure sharing

Non electronic infrastructure such as power supply, racks, air-conditioning, wiring and shelters, in addition to site and mast

RAN sharing

Antennae, base station equipment, controllers, site compound and mast

Core transmission sharing

Fiber cables, backhaul, backhaul equipment, billing system, switching center, value-added service systems

Radio and core sharing

All active components in the access and core network as well as passive infrastructure

Highest

Adapted Source: GSM World

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Sharing Passive Infrastructure

Electrical or fiber optic cables; Masts and pylons; Physical space on the ground, towers, roof tops and other premises Shelter and support cabinets, electrical power supply, air conditioning, alarm systems and other equipment. (Design of Steel Structures. 2008)

(or in) the same site, it is called “site sharing” or “co-location.” Site sharing is the simplest form of infrastructure sharing and is most likely to be accepted by competing operators. The key challenges are for incumbent operator to accept the opening of the infrastructure to other players and for new operators to trust that incumbent will provide them with the appropriate access to sites without deliberate tactical delays to prevent them from rolling out their networks effectively. Enforcing such cooperation is a major challenge to regulatory authorities. As illustrated in the Figure 2 several policies have been issued by the regulators to encourage infrastructure sharing. By practising site sharing, saving of natural resources by using less installation materials and simplifying logistics will also happen. This has added benefits of less visual impacts on the environment.

Sharing Telecom Towers and Sites A collection of passive network equipment in one structure for mobile telecommunications is generally called a “site.” Therefore, when one or more operators agree to put their equipment on

Types of Communication Towers The different types of communication towers are based upon their structural action, their crosssection, the type of sections used and on the placement of tower.

In Infrastructure sharing, the passive elements are defined as the physical network components that do not necessarily have to be owned or managed by each operator. Instead, these components can be shared among several operators. The provider of the infrastructure can either be one of the operators or a separate entity such as an infrastructure company set up to build and operate it. The passive infrastructure in a mobile network is composed mainly of: • • • •

Figure 2. Worldwide infrastructure sharing statistics (Adopted Source: ITU, World Telecommunication Regulatory Database)

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Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry

(i) Based on structural action towers are classified into three major groups. They are; • • •

Self supporting towers Guyed towers Monopole

Self Supporting Towers The towers that are supported on ground or on buildings are called as self-supporting towers. Though the weight of these towers is more they require less base area and are suitable in many situations. Most of the TV, Mega Watt Power transmission, and flood light towers are self-supporting. These towers can accommodate considerably large number of antennas when compared to other two types. Self supporting towers are the most accepted type for sharing since it has more strength and room to accommodate others. Guyed Towers Guyed towers provide height at a much lower material cost than self supporting towers due to the efficient use of high-strength steel in the guys. Guyed towers are normally guyed in three directions over an anchor radius of typically 2/3 of the tower height and have a triangular lattice section for the central mast. Tubular masts are also used, especially where icing is very heavy and lattice sections would ice up fully. These towers are much lighter than self supporting type but require a large free space to anchor guy wires. Whenever large open space is available, guyed towers can be provided. There are other restrictions to mount dish

antennae on these towers and require large anchor blocks to hold the ropes. Due to the complexity of the structure & narrow shape of the tower, less number of antennas can be installed in a guyed tower when compared to self supporting tower. Monopole It is single self-supporting pole, and is generally placed over roofs of high rise buildings, when number of antennas required is less or height of tower required is less than 9m. Normally as an industry practice, operators have refrained from sharing monopole towers in most countries. (ii) Based on the placement of tower, communication towers are classified as depicted in the Table 3. Based on this placement, Communication towers are classified as follows: Telecommunications service providers are engaged in evolving eco-sustainability strategies that can reduce their impact on the environment. Out of these strategies tower sharing will be the key approach when compared to other alternative methods.

Equipment Room Space Sharing Equipment shelters found at the base of communication towers are primarily prefabricated structures that are transported to the site although they can also be built on site. The site built equipment shelters are generally wooden frame or concrete block construction and is finished to meet the particular function they are serving.

Table 3. Categorization of Telecom Towers €€€€€€€€€Green Field Tower

€€€Roof Top Tower

Erection

€€€€€€€€€Erected on natural ground with suitable foundation.

€€€Erected on existing building with raised columns and tie beams.

Height

€€€€€€€€€30-200m

€€€9-30m

Usual Location

€€€€€€€€€Rural Areas

€€€Urban Areas

Sharing Possibility

€€€€€€€€High

€€€Low

Adopted Source: Design of Steel Structures Prof. S.R.Satish Kumar and Prof. A.R.Santha Kumar

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Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry

The prefabricated shelters are constructed of steel, fiberglass, or concrete aggregate wall material. They can be installed on steel I-beams, concrete piers or concrete pads. The structures are delivered to the site by truck and installed with a boom truck or crane. The base costs include minor site preparation, concrete pad or piers, delivery and set up for factory built shelters, electric and communication wiring, basic climate control, grounding and lightning protection and profit and overhead. However these equipment cabins can be shared among several operators to minimize capital expenditure. Furthermore, this will minimize environmental impact by eliminating unwanted transportation, utilizing resources, saving ground space & consuming low energy.

Sharing Backup Generators Power quality at the power distribution level is critical for telecom services. When telecom services are deployed beyond the boundaries of urban areas, quality of the utility power is poorer and regular power outages create the need for a standby power sources especially in the developing nations The Power Grid reliability is a concern in rural regions of developing countries. In certain countries this scenario could even be true for urban areas as well. The following table presents rural

grid reliability issues in some developing nations in order to understand the seriousness of this issue. As per the Table 4 all these countries have an issue of continuous power supply which is a vital element in keeping the telecommunication networks available for its customers. Thus backup generators are used to ensure an uninterruptible power supply. When a telecommunication site is shared by several players it is beneficial to deploy a single generator which can accommodate the entire shared parties’ emergency power requirement. This will simplify refuelling and maintenance by eliminating unwanted transportation. Furthermore, it will make less noise when compared to deploying several power generators.

Air Condition Sharing Compared to yesterday’s monolithic telephone system, today’s worldwide communications network is a much more complex and constantly evolving cluster of interconnected systems. With continually more mission-critical processes dependent on transmission accuracy and 100 percent uptime, the requirements for reliability and performance have never been greater. Precision air conditioning is one cornerstone of a well-designed support system for this network. As telecommunication equipment generate large quantities of heat in small areas and the stable environment (temperature) may vary from one

Table 4. Power grid availability in selected countries Region

Grid Uptime in Rural Locations

Bangladesh

Urban: 4x 1 hr outages / day Rural: 2x 4hr outages / day

East Africa

Power outages 1 day/week 4hour rolling outages

India

14 hour outage / day

Nigeria

Available 15-25% of the time

Pakistan

3,000- 6,000MW capacity shortage

Sri Lanka

Daily unpredictable outages & capacity shortage

Sumatra

4 hours outage / day

Adopted Source: GSMA Member Operators

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equipment to the other, proper and continuous air conditioning becomes a must. When a single equipment room is shared among several operators, equipments can be kept in small partitioned areas according to their amount of heat generation as shown in Figure 3. By keeping equipment in several isolated partitions within a single shelter, helps to maintain desired temperature levels according to their actual requirement rather than maintaining a single temperature level which may need large air conditioners emitting more heat. In the process of cooling, most air conditioners cool the air (sensible cooling) and remove moisture (latent cooling). Since electronic equipment does not release or absorb moisture, the air conditioner selected for a communications site should primarily cool the air, not remove moisture. Cooling systems in base stations will account for more than 30% of the total power consumption. By sharing a common equipment cabin at least among three operators will minimize Capital expenditure that one operator has to invest on energy saving cooling equipments. In addition, careful selection of air conditioning equipment can also reduce emissions as follows; •

Use of Air conditioners having high Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER)

•

Use of inverter type instead of conventional units.

By using inverter type Air conditioners it’s possible to reduce energy consumption by 50%. Capital expenditure for the inverter type would be 30% higher than the conventional unit. (Baer, D. 1997)

Alternative Clean Energy Use for Telecommunication Base Stations One of the greatest challenges facing Telecommunication operators in emerging markets is the demand for network expansion in an environment where there is limited or no access to the electricity grid for base station power. Figure 4 illustrate that by 2012 there will be around 80,000 off grid BTS sites. Where grid power can be attained for some of these, the costs of extending the grid to power off-grid base stations can be enormous. The cost is based primarily on the distance of new infrastructure required. In some cases the operator is required to finance “standard” grid equipment (such as transformers), which remain the property of the utility. The following are some examples of high grid connection costs:

Figure 3. Inside view of a shelter in the future

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Table 5. Grid connection cost in selected countries

Table 6. Grid connections lead times

Region

Grid Connection Cost

Region

Grid Connection Lead Times

Indonesia

Up to $30,000

Bangladesh

up to 2 years

Nigeria

$25,000(Plus purchase of transformer)

Namibia

6-12 months

Sri Lanka

Up to $35,000

Sri Lanka

2 months

Adopted Source: GSMA Member Operators

Lead times for grid extension can materially affect network planning. Examples of grid connection lead times are as given in Table 6. According to the Figure 4 there will be around 80,000 new off-grid BTS sites by 2012. Currently diesel generators are the predominant offgrid power source in countries such as Sri Lanka. However if diesel generators are assumed to be used to power up 50% of above mentioned offgrid BTS sites: •

According to the Figure 5 burning of one litre of diesel produces 2.65 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2).

The rating of a standard generator which is installed for a BTS tower is 15kVA. Two litres of diesel is consumed in one hour, and on an average they run for 16 hours each day. (TRA-India, 2007) • •

Diesel consumption per day = 32 litres Standard generator(15kvA) produces 85.76kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) per day Daily carbon dioxide emission from 50% new off-grid BTS sites = 40,000 x 85.76kg

•

Adopted Source: GSMA Member Operators

However, as diesel prices rise and mobile network infrastructure is built in increasingly inaccessible regions, mobile operators need a viable alternative to diesel, such as solar or wind power which would be cheaper and more sustainable. Due to enormous capital expenditure requirement on such energy sources, individual operators avoid such initiatives. When single BTS sites are shared among several operators, initial cost can be spread across several parties, making these initiatives more lucrative than using conventional energy sources. In addition such sources also provide energy for lower recurrent costs so the actual expenditure on power would become much less in the long run. There are few primary factors that determine technical and financial viability of green power deployments for mobile network sites which are as follows: •

Solar and wind conditions at the site – Isolation (strength of solar radiation) as well as wind strength vary widely around the world. Site selections must consider the availability and consistency of green power sources.

Table 7. CO2 Emission VS Fuel Consumption The relationship between CO2 emissions and fuel consumption works like this: 1 liter of diesel typically weighs 0.83kg (the density range is 820-845kg/m3 in Europe and up to 860kg/m3 elsewhere) about 87% of this is carbon, so one liter of diesel contains 0.83 x 87% = 0.722kg of carbon Each atom of carbon weighs 12 atomic units. When it combines with two atoms of oxygen in the combustion process it of CO2The 0.722kg of carbon in the original fuel then becomes 0.722 x 44/12 = 2.65kg becomes CO2, which weighs 44 atomic units. So one liter of diesel fuel produces about 2.65kg of CO2. Adopted Source: shell- fuel analysis

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Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry

Figure 4. Annual Growth in BTS Sites in Developing Regions 2007- 2012 (Adopted Source Cairneagle analysis, GSMA)

•

Load requirement of the site - The financial and technical viability of green power degrades at higher load requirements.

Solar Solar is a clean and successful way of generating energy. Also the maintenance cost for the operation of solar equipment is relatively low as compared to diesel generator operated telecommunication towers. Solar generators have no carbon emission factors and also help in preserving the environment for sustaining life on earth. It reduces global warming, as carbon emission is null in solar devices.

Due to the plenty of solar resource, commoditisation of solar modules, ease of planning and low running costs, solar is a preferred choice for green power solutions in many regions for small load sites (<2kW). However, capital expenditure scales proportionately with load and solar solutions are not suitable for larger sites. Advantages •

•

Operational expenditure for solar modules is very low due to minimal maintenance requirements. Solar modules have no moving parts and are very reliable with minimal mainte-

Figure 5. Internal rate of return for wind vs solar (Adopted Source: GSM world, green power)

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Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry

nance requirements, typically just cleaning the surface. Traditional modules (mono and poly-crystalline) have life expectancies of 20-25 years. Solar resource is largely unaffected by local topography, making solar solutions feasible for base station sites in many regions of the world. Site specific solar resource data is accurate and easily accessible.

•

Disadvantages •

•

•

Capital expenditure for solar modules is high, especially for sites with large load requirements. Scalability is an issue due to increasing capital expenditure, land area and battery requirements. Therefore solar is most suitable for small loads under 2kW. Using a solar/diesel hybrid can extend the viability into slightly higher loads by reducing battery capital expenditure. Theft and vandalism of solar modules is a significant issue in many regions.

Wind Wind power is captured using a rotating turbine and converted into electrical energy using an electro-magnetic generator. Small & medium scale wind turbines are now available from a number of manufacturers and are suitable for BTS load requirements. The main criteria when assessing wind turbine manufacturers should be the consistency of their systems. At standard BTS loads, the installed cost of power from wind is cheaper than for an equivalent solar system due to a lower basic equipment cost. The cost of small scale wind solutions is approximately $0.10-$0.11 per kWh, and projected by suppliers to reach $0.07 within 5 years (American Wind Energy Association, 2007).However, due to variability in wind speeds across the globe, wind-only solutions are likely to be restricted to

326

locations with abundant wind resource such as coastal and mountainous regions. Advantages •

• •

•

At standard base station loads, the installed cost of energy from wind is cheaper than for an equivalent solar system due to a lower basic equipment cost. The leading turbines require minimal maintenance and last for many years. A wind turbine can be used to reduce the fuel consumed by a diesel generator and can be deployed to backup an unreliable grid. Theft is considered a non-issue due to equipment height, size and weight. Disadvantages

•

•

•

Variability of wind speeds mean turbines would normally be deployed in a hybrid configuration (with solar or diesel generator backup) in all areas except where wind speeds are extremely consistent. Accurate wind resource data is difficult to find due to affect of local topography on wind. It is important to consider local wind conditions before installation – however full surveys can take 3-12 months, and therefore this is not routinely done. There are only a few suppliers with solutions optimised for base station sites.

Pico Hydro Power Systems The name Pico hydro refers to very small hydro systems. There is a large potential market for Pico hydro power generation due to the fact that: • •

Small water flows are required Locally manufactured Pico hydro systems have lower long term costs per kilowatt than Solar, wind, or diesel systems

Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry

•

Hydro systems provide constant energy during times of normal rainfall Advantages

• •

•

•

Pico-hydro solutions have a long lifespan up to 25 years. Pico-hydro has very low maintenance requirements, with just regular greasing of bearings. Every five years or so, an overhaul of the system may be required including the replacement of key moving parts. Unlike solar or wind the reliability of flow means the solution can be sized very accurately to the load requirements of the site and therefore minimal battery or diesel backup is required. The installed cost per kW is the lowest of all green power solutions (~US$ 2,000US$ 4,000 per kW). Disadvantages

•

•

•

•

Assessment of suitability must be based on specific site locations because local streams must be individually assessed. Aggregated data on hydro resource availability is limited for the Pico-hydro scale. The availability of Pico-hydro locations for use in telecoms may be limited by the fact that base station sites are typically located in good broadcast locations (i.e. elevated positions), but streams and rivers are located in valleys. There is little standardised equipment available on a global scale, so equipment must be carefully sourced where local capacity doesn’t exist. The skills needed to install and maintain the system are not widely available in most countries.

The Figure 6 chart depicts compares advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources

including green energies and non green energies in order to highlight the features of green energy sources as against non green energy sources. As per Figure 6 solar and wind energy sources far exceed the rankings as against fossil fuel which ranks the lowest in the rankings. Future As per Table 8 out of all the base stations an assumed figure of 200,000 base stations is predicted to be using green energy as per the above study. This study further revels that by converting such a number of base stations to be green, a saving of (9.6+2.8) = 12.4 million tonnes of CO2 will not be released into the atmosphere.

Green Marketing Green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way. When considering the green energy sources to be the way forward for the future it will be to market the benefits of green energy to telecommunication operators and consumers. The obvious assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view a product or service’s “greenness” as a benefit and base their buying decision accordingly. The not-so-obvious assumption of green marketing is that consumers will be willing to pay more for green products than they would for a less-green comparable alternative product - an assumption that has not been proven conclusively. Green marketing strategies are powerful techniques to help change perceptions, and are particularly fascinating with Y Generation. According to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada titled “Turning Green into Gold: Green Marketing for Profit”, this generation will pay a premium for green, sustainable products. They are acutely aware of “the threats of pollution,

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Figure 6. Comparison of alternative power sources and their rankings (Adopted Source GSMA Analysis)

Table 8. Potential off-grid green power BTS sites in developing countries by 2012 3 year payback

5 year payback

Percentage of off-grid BTS sites viable for green energy

9%

30%

Number of green BTS by 2012

53,000

176,000

Reduced diesel consumption/yr

1.1bn liters

3.5bn liters

Fuel savings/yr

$1.3bn

$4.2bn

CO2 emission reductions/yr

2.8 million Tones

9.6 million Tones

Adapted Source: Interviews and Cairneagle analysis using economic model and Monte Carlo analysis, GSMA

extinction, and global warming,” the Conference Board report notes, and will reward companies that reach them with dollars and word of mouth, while punishing those that don’t. In Green Telecom concept, should an operator be considered as a niche player? In any country telecom industry will fall into an Oligopoly market place. Therefore, there would be a higher penetra-

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tion level of green consumers in telecom industry compared to any other industry in the market. Although the above predictions are positive actual data up to today shows a bleak picture. As per (A.T.Kearney, 2009) less than 3% customers have been influenced to choose a network operator who supports environmental friendly measures. This is shown in the numbers given in Figure 8.

Infrastructure Sharing and Renewable Energy Use in Telecommunication Industry

Figure 7. Potential off-grid green power BTS sites in developing countries by 2012

Figure 8. Factors that influence consumers’ choice of network operator (Adopted Source A.T.Kearney, 2009)

Therefore green marketing has to be on full steam in many years to come to push consumers to choose more sustainable operators. This may have to be done through regulators and additional taxation for non green sources to make the initial push to look for more sustainable energy. In addition a more focused public awareness drive may impact the consumers of especially mobile communications to exploit lower energy usage as a competitive differentiator (A.T.Kearney, 2009).

CONCLUSION The underlying message in this chapter is to understand the impact of telecommunication networks on the environment. The chapter further suggests that by mere co-existence with fellow operators can build a pleasanter environment which would

reduce the emission of green house gases. The sharing of the infrastructure will also strengthen the relationships between operators leading to the individual companies sharing their corporate social responsibility towards society leading to a better tomorrow for future generations.

REFERENCES Baer, D. (1997). What is precision air conditioning and why is it necessary?: Telemarketing & Call Center Solutions [Online]. Available from: http://findarticles.com/ [Accessed 30/10/2009] Chanab, L. El-Darwiche, B. & Mourad, M. (2007). Telecom Infrastructure Sharing Regulatory Enablers and Economic Benefits.USA: Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

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Conference Board of Canada (2009). Turning Green into Gold: Green Marketing for Profit [online] Available from:http://www.conferenceboard.ca/d ocuments.aspx?did=3231 [Accessed 5/11/2009] Cooksley, M. (2009) Investigating the Reliability, Cost and Environmental Benefits of Alternative Energy Sources, Available from: http:// www.gsmworld.com/our-work/mobile_planet / green_power_for_mobile/index.htm [Accessed: 15th October 2009] GSMworld. (2009). Network Sharing[online] Available from:http://gsmworld.com/our-work/ programmes-and -initiatives/network_sharing. htm#nav-6 [Accessed 30/10/2009] Ikebe, H. (2007). Green Energy for Telecommunications. Japan: NTT Facilities, Inc. In-Stat. (2009). Green Thinking Beyond TCO Consideration [Online]. Available from: http:// www.instat.com.cn/wp-content /uploads/2008/06/ green-mobile-network-whitepaper-2008.pdf [Accessed: 10 October 2009] International Telecommunication Union. (2005). Promoting ICT Technologies and Broadband Applications: Background Paper on Infrastructure Sharing. Geneva: ITU. Kumar, S. R. S., & Kumar, A. R. S. (2009). Design of Steel Structures. [Online]. February 2009. Available from http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/ courses/IIT: - MADRAS/Design_Steel_ Structures_II/4_space_frames/9 _case_studies.pdf. [Accessed: 20th October 2009] Lu, H. (2009). Solution--Making “green” telecom real [Online]. Available from: http:// www.huawei.co m/publications/view.do ?id=5714&cid=10549&pid=61 [Accessed 30/09/2009]

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Nokia Siemens Networks. (2009). Energy Solutions [online] Available from:http://www. nokiasiemensne tworks.com/portfolio/services/ energysolutions [Accessed 30/10/2009] Scheck, H. (2009) Methodology to estimate the energy consumption of Telecom services: “Return on Emission” ITU-T, Focus Group on ICT and Climate Change. Available from: http://ties.itu. int/ftp/public/itu-t/fgictcc/readonly/Hiroshima/ Presentations/C-89-presentation.pdf [Accessed: 20th October 2009] Sonnenschein, M. Grabowski, S. Stenger, J. & Haas, M. (2009) “Why Go Green”, How sustainability can benefit mobile telecommunication despite consumer disinterest. Available from: http://www.atkearney.at/content/mis c/wrapper.php/id/50160/area/telekomm/name/pdf_pd f_why_go_green_secured_1241534301d6f6_12 42289233f149.pdf [Accessed 20/10/2009] Sony Ericsson. (2009). Sony Ericsson launches new GreenHeart products with focus on sustainable innovation [online] Available from:http:// www.selloldmobilephone.co.uk/o2-launch-firstgreen-handset-sony-ericsson-naite[Accessed 2/11/2009] Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. (2007). “TRAI recommends Infrastructure Sharing of passive, active and backhaul networks. Available from: http://www.trai.gov.in/trai/uploa d/ PressReleases/447/pr11apr07no33.pdf [Accessed 05/10/2009] The Ministry of industry of the Republic of Belarus (2008). 70-m mobile communication towers [Online]. Available from: http://www.minprom. gov.by/eng/fair _products?page=2&ItemID=4492 [Accessed: 21 October 2009]

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United Nations Environment Programme. (2008). Global trends in sustainable energy investment 2008, analysis of trends &issues in the financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Kenya: United Nations Environment Programme. United States of America, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2003). Direct Emissions from Iron & Steel Production. Climate Protection Partnerships Division. America. World Wind Energy Association. (2009).World Wind Energy Report 2008. Available from: http://www.wwindea.org/home/images/st ories/ worldwindenergyreport2008_s.pdf [Accessed: 17th October 2009] www.Shell.com (2008). Reducing CO2. [Online]. Available from - http:// www.shell.com/home/content/ global_solutions/ innovation/managing_emissions/reducing_co2/. [Accessed 30/10/2009]

KEY TERMS AND DEFINTIONS BTS: Base transceiver station CAPEX: Capital expenditure CO2: Carbon dioxide EER: Energy Efficiency Ratio GSM: Global system for mobile communications ICT: Information & Communication Technology ITU: International Telecommunication Union MW: Micro Wave OPEX: Operational expenditure RAN: Radio Access Network TV: Television

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Chapter 23

Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management Ishan Bhalla University of Technology Sydney, Australia Kamlesh Chaudhary University of Technology Sydney, Australia

ABSTRACT Traffic Management System (TMS) is a possible implementation of a Green IT application. It can have direct impact on reducing the greenhouse gases. The focus of this report is to illustrate how event driven SOA design principles can be applied in designing traffic management system. It also discusses how cloud computing concept can be used for TMS application. Traffic during peak hours is a problem in any major city where population growth far exceeds the infrastructure. Frequent stop and start of the cars on the heavy traffic roads and slow moving traffic causes greater fuel consumption, which results in greater emission of carbon gases. If efficient traffic management system can speed up the traffic average speed it will help reduce the carbon emission. As the WiMAX technology reaches maturity and achieves greater reliability and speed for wireless data transmissions new mobile applications are possible. Traffic Management System is one such example. WiMAX can facilitate communication to and from fast moving cars. WiMAX combined with GPS (Global Positioning System) technology can facilitate building an efficient traffic management system. The authors have also discussed various scenarios where Cloud computing technology can be utilised resulting in further optimisation of the computing resources and therefore reducing the carbon emission. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch023

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

INTRODUCTION Traffic chaos in a major city during peak hours or when returning from holidays has become a nightmare. Distance covered in one hour drive can sometimes take much more. Apart from frustration to the driver and passengers, the slow traffic has an impact on the environment. According to a study in UK the fuel consumption on urban roads can be up to 70% more than that in the highway conditions (http://www.environment.gov.au/). In simple terms that would cause upto 70% more pollution. Any reduction in traffic chaos could help reduce the carbon emission. This paper attempts to provide a solution that can help reduce travel time for cars in peak hours, reduce idling time and improve average speed of travel and therefore reduce the greenhouse gases. This chapter extends and builds on a traffic management system (TMS) we have developed and reported (Bhalla and Chaudhary, 2009). In this paper we have illustrated how Event Driven Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) can be used in designing Traffic Management System. The technologies we have proposed to use to achieve our objective of better managing the traffic are • • • •

WiMAX: technology to provide wireless transmission of data at high speed GPS (global positioning system) Event Driven Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Cloud Computing

The TMS can use the position of all the vehicles on various major road junctions and compare that to normal traffic volume to determine the traffic congestion. Based on this real time traffic data, the best alternative route to reach the destination can be provided. This is different to the normal GPS system, which provides only the static route without consideration to the real time situation on the road. Traffic condition data can also take into account some planned traffic blockages like road

work, accidents and snow or rain. TMS can also compute the total carbon emitted by the vehicles during certain period (typically the peak hours) and help in monitoring and controlling carbon emissions. The backend servers to run the TMS system can also be organized in a manner as to stagger the use of the servers. For example, a TMS hosted on a single server can handle the peak hours of various regions within a country - like Sydney and Perth in Australia. There is two to three hours time difference between Perth and Sydney. Thus, unused server capacity during off-peak period can be utilised to manage traffic of another city. Similarly unused capacity of servers can be made use of to manage traffic of a city in another country in different time zone. TMS system can be deployed on a cloud of servers residing in various locations running traffic management software. Servers in geographically distributed sites can make use of solar energy available in the location as much as possible. Availability of Sunlight in different locations would differ according to the time zone. The focus of the report is to present the principle of operations of TMS, description of various technologies and components required for TMS and mainly how event-driven design principles can be applied in developing traffic management system. Relevance of TMS as Green IT application will be discussed and how cloud computing can be applied for TMS will also be elaborated.

CASE STUDY: TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Problem Description A fictitious Traffic Management System (TMS) is used to manage and monitor traffic. It has been used to illustrate a Cloud Containing Event Driven SOA Architecture and the analysis and modelling of a solution.

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TMS receives movement, location and itinerary information of each vehicle on a Road Network through a wireless network and uses this information to calculate traffic congestion and advise drivers of the best routes to their destinations through a display device similar to current GPS Receivers.

Traffic Management and Greenhouse Gases Aim of traffic management system is to guide drivers to use less congested roads. This will not only add comfort to the driver but also reduce the number of stop/start and increase the average speed of the travel. Urban travel has average speed of 19km an hour, 30% idle time and frequent stop/ start. In 2002 Australian cars contributed 43 millions tonnes of CO2 which is about 8% of national emission levels (www.greenvehicleguide.gov. au). Any reduction in urban traffic congestion will reduce idle time, improve the average speed and therefore reduce the fuel consumption and CO2 emission.

Key Components and Basic Construction of TMS The TMS system consists of four main components: a vehicle with an onboard computer; a WiMAX network; TMS servers; and External Sources. The onboard computer should be fitted with a GPS receiver to calculate its position, speed and direction of travel and a non removable Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. The onboard computer can be a low cost WiMAX capable computer, fitted with a GPSR (Global Positioning System Receiver) card. All vehicles will use a mobile WiMAX network providing end to end TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) support to communicate with the TMS Servers. The TMS Servers will be a group of collaborating servers which run the traffic management applications.

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External Sources like the Road Traffic Authority, police, weather bureau can provide information on road works, accidents, bush fires and any other traffic hazards that may affect traffic conditions.

Challenges The challenges of the system are: 1. Accept an itinerary from a driver and recommend the best routes to the driver. 2. Detect traffic offences like speeding and communicating them to the relevant authorities.

SOA ARCHITECTURE STYLES Composite Application and Flow SOA Service invocations can be synchronous or asynchronous. The flow may also go across business domains or even across multiple businesses. The service invocations are a mix of asynchronous and synchronous messages; however the overall flow is usually long running and asynchronous. A flow typically crosscuts business domains and often extends outside of the enterprise (Nelson 2005). When a business flow is converted into SOA though events that occur in a business we arrive at the Event Driven Architecture (SOA EDA). SOA EDA also ensures that the architecture is very loosely coupled, and extremely distributed. The initiator of the event only knows that the event took place, it does not know what happens after the event or who is interested in the event. This creates a multi-path event network that is difficult to trace (refer to Figure 2). This also makes SOA EDA well suited for asynchronous work flows (Michelson 2006).

Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Figure 1. TMS System Interaction Diagram (Source Bhalla & Chaudhary 2007, 2009)

Why Can the TMS System be Built Using an EDA SOA Architecture? When SOA with real time intelligence needs to be interoperable and integrated with an event processor with near real time response, we can build a business that Gartner calls ’Real Time Enterprise’ which he defines as ’an enterprise that competes by using up-to-date information to progressively remove delays to the management and execution of its critical business processes.’ Consumers need not be aware of any of the event

generation methodologies. EDA can receive, process, and publish events via commonly used protocols in parallel. The TMS’s objective is to track the movement of each vehicle on the road network to calculate traffic congestion so that it can recommend the best route for a vehicle. When a vehicle moves it gives out its location based on a configurable time interval. The location information is what the TMS will receive as an event, by comparing a change of location over time TMS can calculate the speed of a vehicle. Further by comparing loca-

Figure 2. Asynchronous Event Flow (Based on Michelson 2006)

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Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

tion information and speed of a vehicle against a ‘Speed Zone’ database, TMS can check if a vehicle is speeding. Further, TMS should also be able to detect a wrong turn taken by a driver and recommend a new route. All these scenarios raise events that can be processed efficiently by SOA EDA.

Event Flow Layers An event flow initiates the detection of an occurrence that is of business interest and ends with the execution of any applications that are interested in the occurrence. Event flow processing is then distributed across a suite of technologies in four layers as described below. Figure 3 below, shows the interactions of the different technologies (Michelson 2006, p. 2-8).

Event Generators An event generator can be an application, an external or internal service, a business process, a

message delivery device like a mobile phone, a collaboration tool like email or a shared spreadsheet. An event pre processor may evaluate these events and convert them into meaningful events that the system recognizes. Since there can be a number of event generators, possibly built by a number of vendors, standardization is paramount. This standardization/ conversion is carried out by the Event Pre-processor which then puts these events into a type of message queue called the Event Channel.

Event Channel The event channel is a message queue that contains standardized events that have to feed into the event processing engines. It could be TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), email or any other mechanism, that supports queues. Having multiple open channels facilitates near real time asynchronous processing by the Event Processing Engines.

Figure 3. Simple Event Processing Diagram (Based on Michelson 2006, p. 2-8)

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Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Event Processing Engine The standardized events received from the event channel are evaluated against business models for instantiating a number of actions. These actions can include: invoking a service or a number of services; publishing the event to interested subscribers; sending a notification to a user; sending a notification to another system; capturing the event in an event warehouse for data mining; starting a business process and even raising a new event based on a business pattern of historical events. Event processing is categorized into simple event processing, where each event is processed independently, or a complex event processing which may have a historical or future impact.

Downstream Event Driven Activity A single business event can be published to external or internal subscribers. A subscriber can be a user, an application, a legacy engine, a webservice or a new record in a data mart. The strategic use of an Enterprise Service Bus with a number of adaptors, plug-ins and wrappers allow interaction with these heterogeneous subscribers (Michelson 2006, p. 2-8).

Event Processing Styles Events can be classified either a ‘simple’ event or a ‘complex’ event. This section describes the differences between the two styles.

Simple Event Processing Simple event processing concerns events that are directly related to specific, measurable changes of condition. In simple event processing, a notable event happens which initiates downstream actions. Simple event processing is commonly used to drive the real-time flow of work, thereby reducing lag time and cost. Figure 3 demonstrates

the flow of a simple event, as illustrated by the case study below.

Case Study When a driver of a vehicle successfully logs into the TMS system, the system needs to create a new entry in its live traffic table. When the vehicle moves, the onboard computer in the vehicle would transmit its position at regular intervals, these will be detected as simple events.

Complex Event Handling A complex event processor (CEP) enables an organization to process events that are occurring all around the business, to identify prospects or problems. Such a system needs to compare events that have been mapped to an existing business model that has been built upon the correlation of events and event objects in a historical context. By mapping the new simple events against this model the system would be able to identify patterns. The business model also needs to be based on rules on how business events correlate with each other. This type of event processing ability would allow a business to rapidly respond to an opportunity or a perceived threat. Once such a pattern is identified a corresponding composite event can be raised and placed in Event Channel (Tibco 2006). Refer to Figure 4 to understand how a complex event flow might work. According to John Bates “In event-based systems it’s different. The rules that you’re using to monitor the data and take action are fairly static, and it’s the data that’s dynamic. The data is continuously changing. So you have to structure your software to take into account that paradigm shift.” (Seeley 2007, pp. 6-11). For the TMS to detect speeding a background task could check the new location information coming in from a vehicle (through simple events), calculate the vehicles speed based on its displace-

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Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Figure 4. Complex event processing diagram

ment over time, and compare the calculated speed against the speed limit table. Further the TMS will also be able to use the time of the day to check if vehicles slow down in a school zone. For that the TMS will have to electronically map the schools and a vehicles location, and then check its speed.

These service layers are illustrated in Figure 5 the Service Layer Architecture Diagram. We also need to couple EDA with the layers so that events can propagate through all the service layers.

Service Layers

David Linthicum in his article ‘SOA = Orchestration’, says ‘Orchestration is a godlike control mechanism that’s able to put our SOA to work, as well as provide a point of control. Orchestration layers allow you to change the way your business functions, as needed, to define or redefine any business process on-the-fly. This provides the business with the flexibility and agility needed to compete today.’(Linthicum, 2005). The Orchestration Layer needs to centralize and control internal and external services by using a number of processes to compose business and application services. Loose coupling is enforced by separating the business services from the service calling mechanism. The orchestration rules of the business services are obtained by predefined, or

To build services that supports the key SOA principles of: reusability, autonomy and loose coupling we need to organize them into physical layers by answering the following questions (Erl 2006, pp. 333-345): • • •

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What is the relation between existing application logic and services? How can business logic be efficiently encapsulated in a service? How can services make the business more agile?

Orchestration Service Layer

Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Figure 5. Service Layer Architecture Diagram

learnt logic (i.e.: Data Mining or Artificial Intelligence) are exposed by business engines located in the business layer. The ability to invoke this business intelligence via a flexible, dynamic and adaptable mechanism is done by an enterprise service bus (ESB) (Taylor 2005; Linthicum 2008). The ESB is the reliable messenger of the Orchestration Layer and the SOA system as a whole. By integrating wrappers, adaptors and converters into the ESB we can enhance interoperability. Bloomberg states “If an organization abstracts its IT infrastructure so that it presents its functionality in the form of coarse-grained services that offer clear business value, then consumers of those services … can access those services independent of the underlying technology issues that support them”. Further since services can be spread across departments and organizations they may not be available all the time, so loose coupling and the ability to real time routing is needed. In an SOA environment this layer encapsulates and binds the information to form “higher level pro-

cesses and composite services” (Linthicum 2008; Bloomberg 2003).

Integrating EDA, EPE and Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) with the Orchestration Layer The EDA provides the events that come through the Event Channel to be processed by the EPE and BPEL. Both the EPE and BPEL need to run in a process in the Orchestration Layer. This ensures that the Event Driven Architecture is connected to the rest of the Services. Business rules for the BPEL (i.e.: Pattern Identification rules) will come from the underlying business layer described later. The service layer architecture diagram (Figure 5), shows how the different layers interact. Moreover it illustrates the interaction of the EDA, BPEL and the business rules with each other, as events are received and processed through the orchestration layer.

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Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Business Service Layer

Building a BRE

The business layer is the business backbone of SOA. It combines Task and Entity centric services into blocks that are closely aligned with the business. Task Centric services are specifically built to follow a business process and have limited reusability. Entity Service is a business process agnostic service that manages the life cycle of a business entity.

There are two ways to build a BRE around services. The first is to develop these services to answer specific questions without changing their behaviour. Second is to define standard task and entity services for each business behaviour, and create a more composite higher layer to manage behaviour. Both approaches need external applications to maintain the business rules in a rules database(Taylor, 2006). By defining entity and task centric services, each representing its own business centric behaviour, services can independently interact with processes in the Orchestration Layer like the EPE. The EPE would need to interact with the BRE to detect patterns in the warehouse to raise Complex events. By using data mining it would be possible to write back some of the intelligence gathered thus making future detections quicker and/ or more accurate.

Business Rule Service (BRS) Both Task and Entity services might use business rules from a Business Rule Engine (BRE) to govern the Application service layer below. A BRE is a set of services that exposes the business rules of an organization from an abstracted sub layer within a business layer. The BRS will be able to expose the business to a requestor from any layer. For example the BPEL might request the services of the BRS (Taylor, 2006).

Figure 6. Business rule execution diagram

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Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

The interaction of these decisions in the business layer is shown in Figure 6 the Business Rule Execution Diagram.

Application Service Layer or Utility Service layer The Application/ Utility service layer is composed of compact, indivisible building blocks that expose common enterprise resources and capabilities. They are business process agnostic, atomic, generic and are not contaminated by any business or product logic. This standalone nature of theirs insures their agility and flexible from the ground up. Their non contaminated, compact construction ensures that these core services can be cheaply reused multiple times. Their loose construction also allows their replacement without serious system-wide disruptions. They are ideally suited in constructing services like message queue maintenance, load balancing, event logging, file writing, communication with legacy applications, and providing communication through the internet. Figure 7 illustrates how these services interact within a EDA SOA architecture (Erl, 2007).

Applying EDA with SOA Layers The following changes need to take place in the system as shown in ‘Figure 7: Complex Event Processing Diagram’. All captured events should be processed by the EPE, BPEL and the Business Engine so that the rest of the underlying service layer can be invoked. Each event should also be stored in the warehouse/ database for future analysis by a Pattern Engine(PE). To identify Patterns in events we need a Pattern Engine. The Pattern Engine is a composite background application that identifies Patterns derived from existing Business Rules, supplied by the Business Rule Engine. When the PE detects an opportunity or a threat it raises a corresponding composite event, and puts it into the Event Channel which will be eventually processed by the Event Processor. The PE can also exhibit hybrid behaviour of acting as an application and as a service when called by the Event Processor to process Simple Events. As discussed earlier the BRE exposes the business rules, as illustrated by the case study below.

Figure 7. Combining EDA with SOA layers

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Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Case Study: Detecting Traffic Offences The Business Rule Engine would expose rules like: A vehicle should always be 10 Kmph below the speed limit on a road when it is raining. The Pattern Engine running in the background starts locating speeding vehicles on wet roads and would follow this process as shown in Figure 8: 1. The Pattern engine would use these rules and information from an external Weather Service and search for vehicles that crossed the road sections speed limit. 2. On locating such a vehicle it would invoke an external ‘RTA (Road Traffic Authority) Enterprise Service’ to get the vehicles details, raise a VehicleSpeeding Event and put it in the Event queue. 3. When the Event Processing Engine receives the VehicleSpeedingEvent it publishes it to a subscribing Police Applications monitored by the police who might choose to alert a police patrol in that area, and it could also call the SpeedLimitOffenceService and the UpdateVehicleLocation Service. ↜This would ensure availability of upto date information on offending vehicles and could reduce the number of police vehicles required for patrolling thereby reducing the green house gases. Further, police vehicles could also be accurately and quickly guided to the offending vehicle. 4. The End of the Cycle, the Databases are updated, log files are written and all other downstream applications are notified.

Case Study: Recommending the Best Routes to the Driver The PE may be able to recommend the best route for a driver by taking into account weather events, traffic speed events and the driver’s itinerary; this would reduce the time to destination, make better

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utilisation of roads, as drivers could be diverted around potential traffic jams thus reducing green house gas emissions. In case a driver makes a wrong turn (detected by a Complex Event) the TMS maybe able to recalculate the best route using upto date information and notify the driver using a ‘Notify Driver Service’(not shown in Figure 8).

CLOUD COMPUTING Cloud computing refers to hosted service available through internet. These services are made available by the service providers like Amazon. Google, IBM etc. It resembles utility computing model ‘pay for what you use’ similar to electricity, water etc. It involves small start up cost for the consumers as you pay for the capacity used. There are few types of Cloud Computing: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS); Platform-asa-Service (PaaS); Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). IaaS is a service offering virtual computing facility or storage on demand. Most notable examples are EC2 (Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud), S3 (Simple Storage Service) from Amazon. PaaS refers to set of software development tools made available as service. The best examples of PaaS are www.Salesforce.com and GoogleApp. SaaS refers to software applications such as email, word made available for use from anywhere. The providers hosts the application and data both. Most common examples are gmail or ‘google doc’(searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com). Major benefits of cloud computing are: avoids high cost of setting up and managing infrastructure; Low cost option to get started; Pay for what you use; On demand increase in Capacity; Highly secured and reliable infrastructure.

Cloud Computing and Green IT Cloud computing generally builds upon virtualised grid computing resources. Cloud computing built

Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Figure 8. Integrating Event Processing with SOA Layers

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Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Figure 9. Moving the TMS into a cloud

on top of virtual technology maximises the use of idle computing resources. This reduces overall capacity required in computing resources thus result in saving on power consumption and saving on greenhouse gases.

cities comfortably except for some overlap. There is possibility to include few other cities in between. During overlapping hours system capacities can be upgraded as desired.

Traffic Management and Cloud Computing

FUTURE DIRECTION FOR TMS

Traffic management system is a good candidate for cloud computing environment. The same traffic management system can cater to many cities across the globes as the peak hours for traffic are at different time intervals. For example, system managing traffic for Sydney between 7 – 10 am and 4-7 pm. (AEST), can manage traffic for Perth or Singapore, then London and then Los Angeles. Let us assume that peak traffic hours for various cities to be 8-10 am in morning and 5-7pm in the afternoon. Following system illustrates that system at Sydney can cater to AM and PM traffic for four

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Putting the TMS SOA and External Applications into a Cloud The three main components in the TMS are: the Traffic Monitoring Applications, external Police Applications and the weather service. These applications maybe hosted by separate organisations on different banks of servers in different geographical locations. By creating a cloud and hosting all these components together we can improve response and share resources. By taking this theory one step further we can apply this

Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

cloud in an international scenario which would further improve resource sharing. Initially there might be separate implementations in London, New York, Singapore, but we also know that vehicular traffic have peek times and lean times. So, why can’t we use one group of servers to handle peek traffic in Sydney and then in Sydney’s lean time we shift priority to London and then to New York? We can implement this architectural change in two steps: 1. Move the TMS, Police Applications and Weather Service into one cloud. This would give us the facilities to manage all the needed services and servers to host them. Please refer to Figure 9.

2. Build routers in each city to send out requests to the common cloud. Behind the scenes the cloud management could handle requests from different countries. For example – if a request is routed in from London the request should be run on the London TMS module and the London TMS in turn should use the London Weather Information Service (WIS) and log offences using the London Police Applications (PA) as shown in Figure 10. Table 1. Peak and lean traffic times in various cities around the world City peak time

Local Time

Equivalent Sydney Time

Los Angeles AM

8-10 am

1-3 am

London PM

5-7 pm

3-5am

Sydney AM

8-10 am

8-10 am

Singapore AM

8-10 am

10 am-12 pm

London AM

8-10 am

6-8 pm

Sydney PM

5-7 pm

5-7 pm

Singapore PM

5-7 pm

7-9 pm

Los Angeles PM

5-7 pm

10am-12pm

The advantage of running all the applications on one bank of servers will allow hardware reuse. 3. The system can easily compute the average speed of a car, distance travelled etc. If system can get details about the make and type of vehicle, system can easily calculate the carbon emission by the car. Thus system can calculate total Carbon emission and provide necessary reports to government agency.

Challenges in Implementing TMS Success of TMS depends on most, if not all, cars to have special WiMAX capable GPS receiver as described in this paper. TMS also assumes that alternative routes do exists to popular destinations, for example, central business districts (CBDs). When built TMS would need adequate computing power to handle the very large volume of data in real time.

CONCLUSION We have illustrated how complex application like traffic management system can be developed by combining upcoming technologies like WiMAX, event driven SOA and GPS. Traffic management system has great potential to help reduce carbon emission and therefore qualify as a green IT application. Traffic management systems for major cities in different time zones can be easily combined thereby reducing overall computing power required. Traffic management systems can make further use of cloud computing in the background to further consolidate and, minimize the overall computing power required.

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Figure 10. Running the TMS at a global level

REFERENCES Air Pollution.(n.d.). Retrieved on 20 June 2009, Bhalla, I., & Chaudhary, K. (2007). WiMax The Technology and Application. Advanced Data Communication Assignment at UTS. Bhalla, I., & Chaudhary, K. (2009). Traffic Management System using WiMax. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Mobile Business (2nd ed., pp. 615–623). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Bloomberg, J. (2005), SOA + EDA = FUD? Retrieved Jan 20, 2010, from

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Bloomberg, J. 2005, Principles of SOA, Retrieved Jan 1, 2010, Erl, T. (2006) Business analysis and SOA. viewed on April 12, 2008, Retrieved Erl, T. (2007). SOA Design Patterns and Pattern Languages. Retrieved on Aug 21, 2009, Fuel Consumption Label. (n.d.). retrived on 21 June 2009, Linthicum, D. (2005), Why Orchestration Defines Your SOA. Retrieved on Jan 20, 2010,

Applying Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for a Greener Traffic Management

Michelson, Brenda (2006). Event-Driven Architecture Overview, Retrieved 20 Aug 2007, < http:// www.omg.org/soa/Uploaded %20Docs/EDA/ bda2-2-06cc.pdf> Nelson, B. 2005, My SOA Definitions, Retrieved on 21 Jan, 2010, SearchCloudComputing.com. (n.d.). What is Cloud Computing? Retrieved on 22 Jan 2010 Taylor, J. (2006), Business Rules in SOA: Decision Services and the Centralization of Rules Management, Retrieved on 20 Jan 2010

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Business Rule Engine (BRE): An application that executes one or more business rules in a runtime environment. Business Process Execution Language (BPEL): is a language designed to model the interaction of business services. BPEL is an XML based standard for defining business process flow, it also facilitates the orchestration of synchronous and asynchronous web services, while providing support for long running stateful processes. Pasley states that ’BPEL is an open standard, making it interoperable and portable across many platforms‘(Pasley 2005 p.60). Consequently BPEL provides the ideal mechanism for integrating discrete services across an enterprise under an SOA architecture (Pasley 2005 p.60). Event Driven Architecture (EDA): A software architecture pattern promoting the production, detection, consumption of, and reaction to events. Enterprise Service Bus (ESB): An ESB consists of a software architecture construct

which provides fundamental services for complex architectures via an event-driven engine. Global Positioning System (GPS): is the only fully functional Global Navigation Satellite System. The GPS uses a constellation of at least 24 (32 by March 2008) Medium Earth Orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals, that enable GPS receivers to determine their location, speed, direction, and time. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE): is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. It has the most members of any technical professional organization in the world, with more than 365,000 members in around 150 countries. Mobile WiMAX: IEEE standard 802.16e2005 is an amendment to 802.16-2004 and is often referred to in shortened form as 802.16e. It introduced support for mobility, amongst other things and is therefore also frequently called “mobile WiMAX”. Pattern Engine (PE): An application that can identify patterns within simple events to raise a more complex event Subscriber Identity Module (SIM): is part of a removable smart card ICC (Integrated Circuit Card), also known as SIM Cards, for mobile, telephony devices (such as computers) and mobile phones. SIM cards securely store the servicesubscriber key (IMSI) used to identify a subscriber. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA): A software architecture that provides a looselyintegrated suite of services that can be used within multiple business domains. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP): a transport protocol that is one of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite WiMAX: Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless data in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. It is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard.

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Chapter 24

An Australian Rules Football Club Approach to Green ICT Jeffrey Phuah Carlton Football Club, Australia

ABSTRACT This chapter discusses the Green ICT approach of an Australian Rules football club. In the role of their IT Manager, I had the opportunity to undertake formal training and then formulate an approach to uplifting the club’s environmental credentials. This chapter is all about understanding the ICT equipment’s contribution to the overall emissions of the respective clubs and the industry as a whole. As a case study, this chapter starts with how the football industry is addressing the efforts to reduce carbon emissions, considers the potential for IT to be a low-carbon enabler and then applies it to a specific football club.

INTRODUCTION Australian Rules football is a multi-million dollar spectator sport industry administered by the Australian Football League (AFL - http://www.afl. com.au) and at a national league level, is comprised of 16 football clubs. Being high profile organizations, the AFL and its league clubs are constantly scrutinised by the media for their moral and social responsibilities towards their respective communities. Promoting the awareness of the effects of global warming and climate change is one such responsibility that the AFL and its league clubs DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch024

have begun to undertake in their current practices and community programs. As an industry however it may be found lagging in the area of Green ICT adoption and practices although there is indication of at least one league club – the Carlton Football Club (http://www.carltonfc.com.au)– leading the way in this field.

BACKGROUND Global warming and climate change associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been one of the most widely discussed subjects in Australia in particular and globally otherwise.

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

An Australian Rules Football Club Approach to Green ICT

Therefore, it is no wonder then that a multi-million dollar sport industries like the Australian Football League and its high profile clubs are promoting the awareness of climate change and its effects into some of their practices and community programs. In 2006, the AFL, together with ten clubs and Origin Energy Australia (http://www.originenergy.com.au) partnered to organise the ‘Go Green for Footy’ program. By the end of 2009, this program is expected to have offset a total of approximately 90,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions generated from AFL House, the Preseason competition, Home & Away Season and Finals Series matches.1 This case study looks into how the industry is addressing the effort of reducing carbon emissions, considering the potential for IT to be a low-carbon enabler and a club’s approach to Green ICT.

THE STATE OF GREEN ICT A Green ICT Audit undertaken by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) in August 2007 found that the amount of carbon emissions attributable to ICT usage by Australian businesses was approximately 8 million tonnes CO2 per annum, or 1.54% of the total emissions from total energy consumed2. While ICT’s contribution to annual emissions might appear minute, the audit concluded that it still represents an opportunity for ICT to contribute to overall reduction schemes. It recognises the potential for ICT to be a lowcarbon enabler. The Climate Group on behalf of the Global eSustainability Initiative reached a similar conclusion in their Smart 2020 Report which states, ‘The ICT sector has both a profitable opportunity and a critical role to play with other sectors to design and deploy solutions needed to create a low carbon society’.3 Fujitsu Australia, in a report on ‘Green ICT: The State of the Nation’, mentioned that ‘Green ICT needs a champion. There must be someone in

the organisation responsible for Green ICT technologies and policies to achieve truly sustainable outcomes’4. On the question of responsibility, the report concluded that the Australian Government agencies were well ahead of the private industry in appointing a leader in the Green ICT role. (See Figure 1)

WHERE IS THE AFL AND ITS CLUBS WITH GREEN ICT? When reviewing the websites of the AFL and those of its league clubs, only six had content that highlight their participation in some form of environmental awareness program or had performed some environmental awareness activity within their respective communities. There were however ten clubs and the AFL that had participated in the ‘Go for Green Footy’ program and of the five who had performed environmental awareness programs, only two appeared to be actively involved in promoting environmental awareness through environmental projects (Essendon Football Club)5 and adopting an environment strategy (Carlton Football Club).6 Therefore quantifying this early observation: •

•

•

65% participated in a carbon offset program (‘Go for Green Footy’), i.e. ten clubs and the AFL. 35% participated in some environmental activity and reported them on their websites, i.e. five clubs and the AFL. There could be some unreported cases here that we could hope. 12% or only two clubs appear to be genuinely concerned with climate change, i.e. the Carlton and the Essendon Football Clubs

The Carlton Football Club has a vision to be the most environmentally friendly club in the AFL and an aim to increase awareness of recycling and the

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An Australian Rules Football Club Approach to Green ICT

Figure 1. Who is Responsible for Green ICT? (Extract from Fujitsu Australia, Green ICT: State of the Nation, p13)

environment7. The Club has partnered with Visy, Carlton’s “Official Sustainability Partner” who are a world leader in this area. Visy is assisting the Club to achieve the objective of being the most environmentally friendly AFL club. A Green IT maturity survey questionnaire was sent to the IT Managers of the AFL and the AFL clubs for each to determine where the ‘industry’ stood with Green ICT. The Green IT maturity survey questionnaire was used to determine a point of reference for this study. The survey questions were founded on the Green IT Framework developed by Connection Research8 that comprise four vertical dimensions (pillars) and five horizontal dimensions (behaviours) as illustrated in Figure 2. Table 1 illustrated below showed the Carlton Football Club score compared to the Australian average. The Carlton Football Club vision prompted its own IT department to formulate a Green ICT

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policy statement and to review its technology refresh strategies.

GREEN ICT AND THE CARLTON FOOTBALL CLUB A stadium redevelopment project at Visy Park in the suburb of North Carlton will see the Carlton Football Club housed in a building that will adopt environmentally sustainable design (ESD) initiatives. These initiatives include elements like solar panels for hot water heating, grey- and rainwater treatment and storage tanks, and the use of thermal composite panels. When completed, in early 2010, the new facilities at Visy Park will be the most environmentally friendly of its type in the AFL. This has been achieved through the partnership with Visy who have been involved with the ESD initiatives that have been adopted in the new facility.

An Australian Rules Football Club Approach to Green ICT

Figure 2. A Green ICT framework (source Envirability)

In addition, the Club’s IT department pushed for a technology refresh strategy which include bringing up to speed the existing technology platform, increasing data storage capacity and also to put into action and service an infrastructure into the new building. This infrastructure is expected to make a positive contribution to reducing the carbon footprint and alignment with the Club’s vision. The Green ICT push however was a bottom-up effort driven by the IT department. Like many organisations, the perception of Green ICT for many people was about double-side printing, turning off PCs at night or server virtualisation, and about contributing to carbon off-set schemes, Table 1. Result of Carlton Football Club Green IT maturity survey Green IT Report Card An AFL Club Score

Australian Average

End User IT Efficiencies

44.0

43.2

Enterprise IT Efficiencies

21.1

30.5

Lifecycle and Procurement

28.8

52.5

Measurement

2.5

31.6

Enablement

15.0

39.4

OVERALL INDEX

22.3

39.5

procuring part renewable electricity supply or recycling. Carbon offsetting is by far the approach that many organisations adopt as a means to project corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards the much talked about issues of global warming and climate change. Australian Rules football being a national sport requires interstate air travel. Conveniently, participating teams and their support groups – as many as 40 participants per club – contribute to airline carbon offset schemes when they travel by air. While a report published by Friends of the Earth9 argues that carbon off-setting may be a flawed concept, it is nevertheless an important effort directed towards mitigating the effects of global warming. The involvement of the individual players and support staff in the carbon offsetting program ensures there is a ‘buy in’ from all areas of the club. It is an awareness issue for everyone involved. The Club’s current IT infrastructure’s energy usage when calculated in 2007 was estimated at 151 MWh or an emission of 218 tonnes CO2 equivalent based on an electricity supply derived from a brown coal source. This estimate was reached based on calculating power consumption ratings of the various devices like servers, switches, UPSs, desktop computers, LCD monitors, print-

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An Australian Rules Football Club Approach to Green ICT

Figure 3. The result of consuming 40.4 metric tonnes of 0% recycled 80gsm copy paper. Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator. For more information visit http://www.papercalculator.org

ers and the like. In late 2008, however, the Club engaged the used of part renewable electricity supply. Until the planned infrastructure refresh schedule for late 2009, we can assume that energy consumed would remain unchanged although the use of part renewable energy will result in reduced carbon emissions. There was however no visibility of how much reduction was achieved under this new supply. The Club’s environmental strategy was measuring energy consumption and the corresponding carbon emission from that consumption. There was no visibility of the new emission level and as such probably assumed that by employing a part renewable source emissions would automatically be reduced! Recycling is an energy intensive process. The following example, referring only to copy paper, illustrates the lifecycle impact of paper production and disposal. Between December 2008 and September 2009, the Club procured 1,010 reams of 80gsm 100% recycled copy paper. Had the Club used 0% recycled copy paper this would be calculated to be 40.4 metric tonnes of copy paper procured during the period. This weighted volume was entered into the Environmental Defense Fund’s Paper Calculator10, and the result reproduced in Figure 3. (Note: The Paper Calculator is based on research done by the Paper Task Force, a peer-

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reviewed study of the lifecycle impacts of paper production and disposal.) Figure 4 illustrates the result of the Club using 100% recycled copy paper. These results show that recycling and the use of 100% recycled copy paper has reduced the overall impact on the environment.

CONCLUSION The Carlton Football Club appears to be on the right track with its green vision. Through the support of an official sustainability partner the Club has the resources to continue to improve its role as an environmentally friendly organisation. It is important to sustain the vision and look beyond the important steps that have already been taken. The technology refresh program with an aim to reduce IT carbon footprint and everything else that the Club has done thus far is but a small part of overall big picture of becoming a Green organisation, i.e. the environmentally friendliest club in the AFL. The big picture is about ‘the role IT has to play in reducing energy consumption outside of the IT department, and the organisation’s overall carbon footprint’. (Philipson, 2009) The strategic employment of Information Technology as a low-carbon enabler can have

An Australian Rules Football Club Approach to Green ICT

Figure 4. The result of consuming 40.4 metric tonnes of 100% recycled 80gsm copy paper. Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator. For more information visit http://www.papercalculator.org

a profound and sustainable effect on the Club’s vision to be the environmentally friendliest club in the AFL. It will require a ‘Green IT champion’ to take a leadership role to plan and execute a Green IT project, the commitment and support of its management to promote green activities across the organisation, and the participation of Corporate and IT Governance to evaluate and where necessary change corporate policies according to changes to the business model and organisation structure going forward to greening the organisation. The potential of the IT departments becoming a low-carbon enabler, will assist Carlton to achieve a sustainable Green ICT maturity and more so, an overall sustainable green enterprise.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT Thank you to Connection Research for the use of the Green IT Report Card survey questionnaire. http://www.connectionresearch.com.au/

REFERENCES AFL Green – AFL.com.au, Origin AFL Promotion. (n.d.). Retrieved on 5 October 2009, http://www. afl.com.au/afl%20 green/tabid/9866/default.aspx

Audit of Carbon Emissions resulting from ICT usage by Australian Business. (August 2007). Australian Computer Society. Blues Going Green - Official AFL Website of the Carlton Football Club. (n.d.). Retrieved on 8 October 2009, http://www.carltonfc.com.au/blues% 20going%20green/tabid/14437/default.aspx Environment Strategy – Official AFL Website of the Carlton Football Club. (n.d.). Retrieved on 8 October 2009, http://www.carltonfc.com.au/environmen t%20strategy/tabid/14430/default.aspx Environmental Defense Fund. Paper Calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved on 13 November 2009, http:// www.edf.org/papercalculator/ Essendon Football Club – Environment – EFC Green Precinct.(n.d.). Retrieved on 2 November 2009, http://www.essendonfc.com.au/ community/environment.asp Friends of the Earth. A Dangerous Distraction. (n.d.). Retrieved on 6 October 2009, http:// www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefing _notes/dangerous_distraction.pdf Green, I. C. T. State of the Nation, Fujitsu Australia.(n.d.). Retrieved on 19 October 2009, https://www-s.fujitsu.com/au/whitepape rs/ greenict_sotn_form.html

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Philipson, G (n.d.). A Green IT Framework. Connection Research, October 2009

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SMART2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age.(n.d.). Climate Group,Retrieved on 19 October 2009, http://www. theclimategroup.org/as sets/resources/publications/Smart2020Report.pdf

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Chapter 25

Environmental Challenges in Mobile Services Amit Lingarchani University of Technology Sydney, Australia

ABSTRACT Pervasive mobile services are part of almost all business processes. These services are provided irrespective of location, time and place using devices such as mobile phones, smartphones and laptops. This boost in mobile services has also resulted in numerous environmental challenges ranging from design and manufacturing of the mobile device through to mobile service providers and corresponding network infrastructure. This chapter outlines the use of mobile services to increase customer base. In addition, it also provides a better view on opting mobile wireless services over wired services. Environmental challenges around the use of mobile services are described as part of the chapter. Finally some suggestions to reduce carbon emissions and to be energy efficient are provided. In short the chapter goes in line with sentence “Going green is no longer optional from business vantage point” (Brenner, 2008).

INTRODUCTION Mobile technologies provide two significant advantages to business: location-independence and personalization (Unhelkar, 2008, Unhelkar, 2009). Mobility enables the enterprise to interact with the customers independent of their location. Mobility also enables the business to dynamically customize (i.e. personalize) the specific services of the business required by the customer. As a result, DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch025

mobile technologies play an increasingly pivotal role in providing enhanced customer experience and value. Services can be customized to suit the specific needs and tastes of the consumers, and offered to them on their personal mobile devices. These enhanced services, however, indirectly contribute to carbon footprint of an organization. This is so because concerns about energy consumption and resulting generation of ‘green’ house gas (GHG) are raised by mobile technologies and mobile business. The entire cross section of consumers, workers and business leaders

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Environmental Challenges in Mobile Services

concern themselves with the carbon content of their business processes and the underlying technologies that support those processes. Mobile technologies and associated infrastructure needs to be studied, understood and improved from the carbon viewpoint. This chapter focuses particularly on the environmental challenges due to carbon emissions of mobile services. Section 1 focuses on the introduction of mobile services and how carbon footprints are generated due to their use. In section 2, environmental challenges faced due to use of mobile services are described and section 3 discusses challenges raised due to mobile services and solution to tackle environment challenges is highlighted in same section. Lastly, the chapter is concluded by briefing the aspects of environmental challenges.

MOBILE SERVICES AND CARBON FOOTPRINTS Organizations which act as service providers (telecom companies) are becoming richer by providing mobile services to required customer base. Mobile service refers to radio-communication service between mobile stations. Nowadays, mobile services are offered by every telecom service provider. These offerings include vast range of services from 3G to mobile broadband. Various providers of Australia such as 3, Optus and Telstra provide easy to use and connect mobile internet as part of bundled mobile plans. This helps telecom companies to create a robust platform to transmit data, voice and video/TV over mobile devices. In addition to above services, various social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are offered in same bundled mobile plans. Due to mobile services mentioned above, consumers have started moving from wired devices to wireless mobile devices. This gives them freedom to access data and be in touch with their peer groups irrespective of time and location. Due

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to demand of internet services on mobile phones, service providers try their best to package all these services in one bundle so that consumers don’t need to buy every service separately. The other reason for popularity of wireless services over wired services is access of information to compete in market. Mobile service providers are trying their best to include every possible service in same bundle / package without increasing overall cost. With increase in mobile services, service providers are facing environmental challenges. They service providers are unable to identify and handle overall environmental impact of widespread mobile service business. For e.g, the ubiquitous mobile phones, their batteries, the mobile networks, the RFID tags, the mobile transmission towers and the myriad mobile devices such as the PDA’s and tablet PCs all form part of the growing environmentally challenging issue that mobile businesses need to address. Mobile service provider need to understand supply chains of mobile services in order to tackle the environmental challenges from end to end. Cartland (2005) writes about the significance of studying and optimizing supply chains with regards to sustainability in business. Different businesses participate in overall supply chain of mobile services. Hence, there is a need to emphasize the importance of environment responsibilities within business strategy. According to Unhelkar and Dickens (2008) and Unhelkar and Trivedi (2009), specific types of business strategies need to be highlighted for the importance of Green ICT. They call such strategies as environmentally responsible business strategies (ERBS).

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES OF MOBILE SERVICES There are three categories of environmental challenges faced by organizations involved in supply chain of mobile service life cycle. These challenges could be understood as follows:

Environmental Challenges in Mobile Services

Technical •

•

•

Policies, Legislative and Regulatory Frameworks that are put together by the regulatory bodies (such as governments, summit bodies and industrial consortiums) Infrastructure related to mobile services that consume power and produce significant carbon Access and Use of technology such as servers, devices and transmitters Business

•

•

Business Strategy that aims to ensure that the carbon reduction effort is in line with the goals of the organization Costs associated with the effort to reduce carbon and comparing it with the risks of not undertaking carbon reduction General

• • • •

Network Efficiency and effectiveness of the infrastructure and devices User friendliness of the devices Quantifiable and Measurable Values (Green metrics) Recycling Handsets

Technical Challenges 1) Policies, Legislative & Regulatory Frameworks: Every ICT organization is having its own way of devising mobile architectures and designing mobile systems. There are no legislative standards which could be followed by organizations in order to meet green initiatives. Government is trying its best to mandate green considerations as criteria when procuring mobile equipments and services (Datamonitor, 2008). A regulatory framework is missing for investors, operators and other stakeholder of mobile

services (Dunn & Thomas, 2009). A proper implementation of any policy lacks focus and flexibility. Moreover, it is too difficult to change the systems, which are already in place, according to new legislative rules and policies. Government regulations are laid in different ways for different industries. These rules when kept in place need to be incorporated into upcoming ICT plans which get missed out. There is a need of strong base of persons who are well versed in technical policy, legal and regulatory aspects of developing and delivering the quality based mobile communication infrastructure (Dunn & Thomas, 2009). It is utmost necessary for handset makers to document their green processes and make sure that they comply with regulations devised by government bodies. In addition to policies for proper design and development, there is a need of legislative policies for mobile phone recycling (Articlesbase, 2010). Manufacturers and sellers who were involved in selling mobile devices should be made responsible for accepting used cell phones for recycling. This task needs a strict law to be passed by government bodies. However, people are ready to recycle the mobile phones in return of cash which brings a halt to the complete program of mobile handset recycling (Fabio, 2009). 2) Infrastructure: Infrastructure in mobile environment deals with the design and architecture of the baseline framework as well as physical network used in transmission of mobile services. There is a need to devise and develop power efficient designs of the mobile devices. Lack of proper design of mobile devices lead to more usage of battery and as a result, there is a need of more power which in turn increases carbon emissions. Moreover, lack of appropriate hardware technology such as multi-core processors on servers can lead to heavy load on servers

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Environmental Challenges in Mobile Services

which in turn will need more power. These challenges are faced due to the absence of cost effective manufacturing processes and lack of global sustainability standards (Zadok & Puustinen, 2010) There are large numbers of servers in an organization to support smooth mobile services. Most of these servers are under normal load but some of them are underused. As a result, the underlying architecture is not completely used but power is used to keep it running. This leads to significant waste of energy. Therefore, design of mobile devices and underlying infrastructure are most important from green viewpoint. The physical network deals with the bandwidth and connectivity needs (Dunn & Thomas, 2009). Mobile technologies need huge bandwidth in order to provide a particular service over larger areas. Network service providers have to manage this challenge by putting sensors/towers in the network. Connectivity infrastructure needs to be catered as requirement within telecom services. Better connectivity needs international information superhighway at a very lost cost which can be affordable by every stakeholder. In addition to it, service providers lack a power grid which can be used to provide services through mobile.

than using moving people (Brenner, 2008). In addition to it, company could also take some security steps in order to protect fraud with help of virtual technology. As people would start working from remote places, such as home, the company would stop moving people around. Thus the data could be made secured as it will not be on move and accessible by everyone. On contrast, this solution doesn’t get rid of issue regarding malicious access of data because it is too difficult to transmit data securely through mobile devices. Hence, challenge of maintaining security and privacy of data persists even with virtual technology. In addition to virtualization platform, there is a need of dynamic infrastructure. One example of dynamic infrastructure is cloud computing. Organizations don’t have enough capability to implement cloud infrastructure due to lack of standards for registering services in it. For e.g, Fujitsu was planning to implement cloud computing since long time but it was unable to bring a list all the services which it can provide and related standards / protocols for them. Energy consumption by systems not currently needed and used can be stopped by using cloud computing (Meyer, 2008).

Business Challenges

3) Access to and Use of Technology: Mobile services needs frequency band allocation at a particular level which is not available due to lack of appropriate technology. The places where appropriate frequencies are available for transmitting mobile services lack in compatible standards for that. Absence of appropriate virtual platform is another issue in mobile world. Virtualization of servers and other energy efficient components can be carried out within an organization.

1) Business Strategy: Mobile devices are becoming richer in functionality and service providers are coming up with different kinds of services every day in order to attract more customer base. These mobile service providers can succeed in getting large customer base only when customer focused strategies become part of business strategy. Companies need to provide innovative and value added services in order to withstand competition (Patel, 2008).

Virtual technology could help people work from home rather than coming to actual physical offices. This would focus on moving data rather

There is a need of a robust business model which will bring together all business strategies in front of management in form of an executable

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plan (Data monitor). Companies lack skills in determining green business models that provide maximum value to organizations. Due to tight budgets and competitive market, companies need to roll out services at a faster pace and as a result they need to keep a control on costs. In addition to it, companies face the challenge in maintaining quality of the services which are rolled out quickly. Government need to address these challenges in their strategies as legislative / regulatory laws so that organizations are not left with an option to follow them. Overall, companies and government need to include green strategies in their long term strategies (Meyer, 2008). Various parties are involved in providing mobile services to customers (IBM Business Consulting Services, 2006). These parties need to work in collaboration in order to gain more revenues. As there are no universal green standards, every company tries to follow their own standard. As a result, lack of collaborative approach towards greenness is lost. 2) Costs: There are two different kinds of costs from green perspective. One is the cost incurred by service providers to provide green mobile services and another one is incurred by customer to purchase actual mobile handsets. Customers are always ready to pay any price for handset, provided it is easy to use and consist of all the latest features which are eco-friendly. As companies cannot afford enhanced features of green mobile at same cost, they loose customer base. Hence cost remains a big issue for organizations. A survey was carried out in order to know the number of adults who would actually like to purchase green handsets. This survey had 1000 participants. Out of 1000, about 40% participants were ready to choose a green handset over a conventional model if the handset prices would be same and similar functionality is offered (Zadok & Puustinen, 2010).

Companies are failing to utilize technology at its best and as a result, they spend huge amount of money in achieving sustainability goals. One of major sustainability goal is to provide ecofriendly devices. Many companies have started taking lead to provide eco-friendly handsets. For e.g. Samsung has started particular green handsets called Samsung Reclaim and Samsung Blue Earth whose shell is made from recycled water bottles with solar panels on its top (Zadok & Puustinen, 2010). Organizations lack automation of system utilization. They fail to turn off mobile servers which are not in use and are utilizing power unnecessarily because these servers are not automated. There is manual intervention in switching servers on and off. Hence, companies have to incur costs to maintain servers as well as human resources. Automation can lead to reduction of such costs.

General Challenges 1) Network Efficiency: Mobile services are expected to grow by leaps and bounds in coming years. Customers are trying to access different kinds of services at different time irrespective of location. Mobile service providers face a big challenge of providing enough network coverage even with deployment of high capacity broadband network. Accessing of services such as 3G includes higher data throughput and as a result, there is a need of more power. In other way, devices consume more power. Companies face the issue of managing power and network coverage at same time due to increasing number of subscribers. Many small mobile service providers are trying their best to enhance their current communication network infrastructure to accommodate new services provided by them. This is due to lack of enough bandwidth and finance to purchase more bandwidth. As a result, network load increases

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in peak time and more power is consumed to provide services. 2) User Friendliness: User friendliness deals with the ease with which the services provided by the service provider can be used by the customers. Companies try to provide better TV picture quality and attractive GUI. These functionalities require more power in order to keep the same pace of quality and attractiveness. In addition, there is a need of added functionalities nowadays. Mostly these functionalities refer to access of twitter, facebook and other social networking sites on mobile devices. These functionalities need huge amount of bandwidth as consumers like to chat and share pictures through mobiles. As a result, network load increases and more power is consumed. 3) Quantifiable and Measurable Values (Metrics): Organizations need to calculate and collect metrics / measurable values in order to market the service / product. They need to measure those aspects of business which provide a quantifiable value. These values help to measure ROI (Return on Investment) for any business. They need to know the concept of “What cannot be measured cannot be managed” (Zadok &

Puustinen, 2010). Similar aspects apply to measure greenness in mobile services. Organizations lack in these metrics as they are not able to make these metrics as part of business strategy and thus are not able to meet government regulations and standards. Table 1 provides a brief view of metrics that should be measured by every mobile service provider organization. 4) Recycling Handsets: Consumers are demanding enhanced functionalities on their mobile phones. Hence, they throw away their existing handsets and go for a new one such as smartphones. The discarded mobile devices, so called e-waste, become one of the most serious threats to the environment (Fabio, 2009). Lack of regulatory policies, where manufacturers are not responsible for taking back the unused mobile devices, worst the issue of e-waste. In addition to it, consumers should hand their used devices to someone who needs them so that the device is not turned into an environment waste. In worst case, consumers should donate their mobile phones to organizations that would recycle the used mobile devices rather than dumping them anywhere. Organizations such as CellPhonesforSoldiers.com and Charitable Recycling organize phone recy-

Table 1. Brief view of lacking metrics (Based on Unhelkar, Oct 2009) Sr.No

What to Measure?

Metrics

Unit

1

Business strategy elements focusing on Green IT and carbon emissions

Green IT Strategy within business strategy

$ (dollar amount)

2

Carbon generated during life cycle of an electronic device (e.g. mobile device)

Green Supply Chain Index (Total green specific materials)

CO2e

3

Benchmark for extent of recycling

Green Recycling Index (No of days beyond the official life of an equipment to number of days during active life of the equipment)

Ratio

4

Carbon calculated at the end of device’s life when it is disposed off

Carbon generated in disposing an existing device

CO2e

5

Total landfill generated by disposal of a mobile device and its related materials by organization

Landfill

Metric ton

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Environmental Challenges in Mobile Services

cling (Fabio, 2009). Such organizations give incentives to consumers who recycle their used mobile devices. In contrast, this means that consumers would only recycle their mobile devices if they are provided with incentives. They would not recycle devices thinking as duty towards environmental awareness. Incorrect disposal of mobile devices can create global pollution in long run. Cell phones consist of persistent metals and bio-accumulative metals which don’t degrade and become toxic over period of time (Sedycias, 2007). Different metals such as cadmium, nickel and mercury can leak into the environment through corrosion and can cause big environmental challenges. In addition to above, lithium element present in mobile devices model can burn with water exposure and can create underground fires. Moreover, the mobile device if not degraded properly, can create methane gas on its decomposition. The methane gas can create more damage than that by CO2 and so can lead to global warming.

FUTURE DIRECTION Mobile services are growing every day and with their growth, more environmental challenges would come into picture. As described in previous section, environmental challenges need to be tackled. One of the ways of tackling the challenges is to reduce energy consumption in no-load mode. No load mode refers to the state when chargers are not actively used to charge handset and are not practically used (Zadok & Puustinen, 2010). For e.g, Sony Ericsson was successful in reducing average no load power consumption by more than 90% in 2008 (Sony Ericsson, 2009). In addition to it, ITU has provided regulation for devising energy efficient one-charger-fits all new mobile phones. Design of mobile devices is another area where sustainability can be maintained at fundamental

and core level. There is a need to reduce energy consumption by handset as well as network infrastructure. Moreover, handset manufacturers should take care to ensure that environmental burdens in one phase of a mobile device are not impacting other / later phases of device lifecycle. In addition, device manufacturers have started using a new concept called Green Switch methodology. In this methodology, every mobile device has either Fat mode or Green mode. Mode statuses can be toggled when required. All the important functionalities are performed in Green mode whereas full functionalities are available in Fat mode. Moreover, the device can automatically enter in Green mode, if remained idle for a period of time (Zadok & Puustinen, 2010). This helps in saving power consumption. In reality, the concept of Green switch is still on paper and hence needs to be implemented.

CONCLUSION The global growth of mobile usage through its services and uptake of smartphones for enhanced functionalities make sustainability an important and urgent issue to address. Everyone would have to face a sustainability storm if above mentioned aspects are not controlled from energy efficiency and power consumption perspective. This chapter has provided two major aspects followed by suggestions which can be implemented as solution to cater the needs of energy efficient environment. Firstly, the chapter outlines what mobile services are and its impact on current consumers. In addition, it also outlines the requirement of mobile services over wired services as well as challenges faced due to them. Secondly, the chapter provides a detailed view on all the environmental challenges of the mobile services. The author has also highlighted appropriate category of challenges and related challenges from an ecology perspective. Cost consideration, technology changes, changing legislation and the need to improve efficiency and

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total cost of ownership combine to make dealing with greenness crucial for higher management (CXO’s) of any company (Meyer, 2008). Finally, future work section provides ideas on how to tackle green challenges at a very basic level such as manufacturing of devices. In summary, the chapter provides enough direction on providing a framework for any supply chain provider in a mobile service life cycle. Appropriate funding is needed from a multi national organization or from government to tackle the challenges mentioned in the chapter.

REFERENCES Articlesbase (2010). How Mobile Phone Recycling Helps People and Environment. Articlesbase – Free Online Articles Directory, (24). viewed 15 February 2010, < http://www. articlesbase.com/ cell-phones-articles/howmobile-phone-recycling-helps-people-and-theenvironment-1773348.html> Brenner, B. June (2008). Cost Cutting through Green IT Security: Real or Myth? CSOonline. viewed 25 January 2010, Datamonitor (2008). Enhancing Value for the Citizen: ICT Adoption in Regional & Local Government, pp 1-25. www.datamonitor.com. Dunn, H., & Thomas, M. (2009). Towards the Strategic Plan on Telecommunication Services in the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME). Concept Paper for Caricom Telecommunications, January 2009, pp. 4-11. Ericsson, S. (2009). 2008 Sustainability Report,

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Fabio, M. (Feb 2009). Going Green: Green Cell Phones and Cell Phone Recycling. viewed 10 February 2010, IBM Business Consulting Services. (2006). TV on a mobile. pp. 1-18 Meyer, T. March (2008), Driving Reduced Cost and Increased Return From the Green Data Center. IDC – Fujitsu Siemens Computers, pp. 1-12 Patel, M. (June 2008). Eight Trends to Watch in Mobile Computing. Accenture – Outlook Point of View, (2). viewed 24 February 2010, < http:// www.accenture.com/Global/Research_and_ Insights/Outlook/By_Industry/Communications/ EightComputing.htm> Sedycias, R. (2007). Your Cell Phone And The Environment, Buzzle.com. viewed 21 February 2010, Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, Annukka, (2008). Lessons in Implementing “Green” Business Strategies with ICT. In Murugesan, S. (Ed.). Cutter IT Journal, Special issue on “Can IT Go Green?” 21(2), February 2008, pp. 32-39. Unhelkar, B. (2009, Oct). Green IT Metrics and Measurement. Cutter Consortium, 9(10), 10–17. Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009). Role of mobile technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy. In Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological and Social perspectives; 2nd Edition; 2008. Hershey,PA: IGI Global. Zadok, G., & Puustinen, R. (2010). The Green Switch: Designing for Sustainability in Mobile Computing. SustainIT Conference, San Jose, pp. 1-8.

Environmental Challenges in Mobile Services

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Green House Gases: Green house gases include methane, chloroflurocarbons and CO2 which act as a shield that traps heat in earth’s atmosphere and thus contribute to global warming. Bundled Mobile Plans: Bundled mobile plans refers to bundled services in which all the mobile services are offered. It acts as a roof or package for all the mobile services. RFID: RFID is a technology that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal or person. ERBS (Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies): ERBS refers to business strategies for sustainable business development.

These strategies include the activities that meet the needs of an enterprise and stakeholders while protecting natural resources. Mobile Phone Recycling: Mobile Phone Recycling refers to reuse of used mobile handsets as well as donating the used devices to some individuals or organizations that can make use of device parts again. Sustainability: Sustainability refers to the capacity to bear or suffer. It refers to the concept of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Virtualization: Virtualization refers to the way of hiding the physical characteristics of the computing resources in a way in which other applications or systems interact with those resources.

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Chapter 26

A Taxonomy of Green Information and Communication Protocols and Standards Jungwoo Ryoo The Pennsylvania State University-Altoona, USA Young B. Choi Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA Tae H. Oh Rochester Institute of Technology, USA

ABSTRACT Due to increased awareness of human’s adverse effect on the environment, many new technologies to mitigate the environmental damage are under development. Although innovative, many of these technologies are often developed in isolation and consequently incompatible with each other. From the viewpoint of Systems Engineering, this presents an enormous challenge since compatibility among different elements of a system is crucial in achieving an optimal operational state that minimizes energy consumption. Therefore, standardization in the form of protocols is a key to accomplishing the goal of green Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In this chapter, the authors examine the existing green ICT technologies and their protocols to identify both obvious and subtle strengths and weaknesses. Particularly, the authors scrutinize the interoperability of the existing green ICT protocols and provide insights on how to improve the status quo. In addition, information on emerging governing bodies of green ICT protocols is provided. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch026

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

A Taxonomy of Green Information and Communication Protocols and Standards

INTRODUCTION Green Information and Communication Technology (ICT) refers to a collection of environmentally friendly information and communication technologies that help individuals and organizations conserve energy and reduce their adverse effect on the environment. It is also a way of utilizing ICT in an eco-friendly way. The use of ICT is rapidly growing and their influence on the environment is much farther reaching than one might think. For example, many households (especially, in the developed world) today have Personal Computers (PCs) and peripherals coming with them. A lot of these computers are constantly running and consume a significant amount of electricity. Furthermore, the upgrade cycles for these computers are relatively short (around three years as of this writing), and discarding them is becoming increasingly problematic due to many toxic materials used to manufacture PCs. The problem is even worse for organizations since the scale of their use of computers far exceed that of household use. Data centers housing tens of thousands of servers are commonplace and their energy consumption easily rivals what an entire town may require. As consumers become more aware of the negative consequences of inefficient ICT resource utilization, they tend to be more selective about their choice of ICT products. Governments are encouraging this positive change in consumer by rating both goods and service according to their energy efficiency. For example, the U.S. government agencies such as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE) introduced Energy Star labels since 1992 to promote energy-efficient products (EPA and DOE, 2010). Although standards such as Energy Star are indispensable in greening the ICT industries, a lack of coordination is an area of concern. Many of the standards are being developed in an isolated manner, which makes the overall greening effort through the development of standards less than

optimal. For instance, the Energy Star standard does not consider how much energy is required to dispose of an electronic appliance appropriately and to recycle it. However, a private sector company (an online store called buygreen.com) has developed a scoring system that considers the cost of disposal and recycling. From the perspective of consumers who attempt to make consciously green purchasing decisions, having to check two numbers (i.e., Energy Star rating and recycling/ disposal score) provided by two different organizations instead of one combined number is undesirable. Even if the consumer is willing to use multiple sources (standards or protocols) to make an informed decision, the information may not always be available to them. Therefore, it is necessary to have a comprehensive framework that clearly shows how the existing green ICT standards/protocols relate to each other to provide a global view of what is addressed and what is not by a particular standard or protocol and to ultimately accomplish the common goal of encouraging the production and consumption of environmentally friendly ICT products (Choi et al., 2009). This chapter is one of the first such attempts. It goes even further by discussing the organizations (both governmental and non-governmental) that develop and maintain the green ICT standards/protocols.

BACKGROUND In this chapter, the terms, protocols and standards are used interchangeably. They both refer to formal ways to either enhance or assess the energy efficiency of an ICT technology. We categorize the green ICT protocols into green networking protocols, green computing protocols, and other miscellaneous protocols. Networking and computing protocols are in different categories because they deal with different problems. Networking protocols makes it possible for hosts (or computing devices) to exchange data while computing protocols focuses on processing the data. The

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immediate goal of this chapter is identifying an exhaustive set of these protocols that are relevant to green concepts. The green networking and green computing protocols discussed in the following sections concentrate on enhancing the efficiency of the existing protocols. The miscellaneous green protocols focus on the assessment. We identify the sub- or sub-sub-categories of these major categories, which constitutes a taxonomy of green ICT protocols we are developing in the next section.

A TAXONOMY OF GREEN ICT PROTOCOLS As discussed earlier, the taxonomy consists of green networking protocols, green computing protocols, and other protocols.

Green Networking Protocols Green networking is a way to design and implement technologies that provide energy efficient solution to the network. Green networking also involves all areas within the network and includes consolidation, equipment upgrading, ↜network management and telecommuting. The efficiency of individual hardware devices such as PCs, switches, routers, computer media and peripherals plays an important role for energy efficiency, but it is a secondary concern for this category of green protocols. The goals of green networking protocols are listed below (Chilamkurti et al., 2009). 1. Increase energy efficiency, 2. Consolidate heterogeneous networks into homogenous network, 3. Reduce the environmental impact of network components, 4. Design the intelligent network so that the network can be more responsive to energy usage reduction efforts, 5. Be compliant with regulatory reporting requirements such as National Greenhouse

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and Energy Reporting Systems (NGERS), and 6. Promote the carbon reduction effort.

Green TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) has been the main network and transport layer protocols used on the Internet. The main function of the protocols is to provide reliable delivery of data between two hosts. Irish and Christensen (1998) proposed green TCP/IP that included a new connection sleep option. The sleep option allows the clients to notify the server when the clients need to go to sleep. This will not terminate the connection between the server and the host. Although both client and server do not exchange data or acknowledge (ACK) packets, the connection is kept alive. When the client is ready to wake up, the client notifies the server, and the exchange of data packets resumes immediately. The experiment of green TCP/IP was carried out using a small test bed with Linux operating system. Green TCP/IP was designed to be backward compatible with regular TCP/IP. Even with this seemingly small saving of energy, Irish and Christensen argue that the green TCP/IP protocol could make a huge difference when a large numbers of PCs are equipped with this protocol. However, green TCP/IP was never successfully implemented in industry.

IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) (IPv6.org, 2010) in itself is not a green ICT protocol. However, it serves as a crucial infrastructure for achieving energy efficiency. For instance, the adoption of smart meters at households requires the deployment of various sensors. Each sensor acts as an independent network host which demands a unique IP address of its own. The existing Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) (Panko, 2008) addressing scheme uses a 32-bit address space and limits

A Taxonomy of Green Information and Communication Protocols and Standards

the maximum possible number of IP addresses to billions. The introduction of the sensors with individual IP addresses is quickly depleting the remaining supply of IP addresses. Since IPv6 uses a 128-bit address space, for the foreseeable future, there is almost no possibility of running out of IP addresses again even if the number of new energy-saving devices demanding unique IP addresses grows very rapidly. Recently, the green protocol working group (2010) was formed for people who are interested in using IPv6 to conserve energy. This group promotes the global collaboration regarding how to use IPv6 to reduce the resources required to efficiently manage residential and commercial buildings. Currently, there are twelve committees in the group some of which include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Green Protocol Initiative, Demo Building Projects, Remote Sensors, Video Surveillance & Security, Asset Tracking, Supply Chain Optimization, and Data Center Optimization, 6. Energy Efficient Ethernet, and 7. Global Unified Communication ID. The major activities for the group are building IPv6 awareness, IPv6 backbone, IPv6 applications and dual stack. All new relatively large networks use IPv6 as “platform for innovation” that creates new business opportunities in health care, automotive, and public safety sectors.

Network Components In a network, the device that utilizes most power is a switch since it performs various functions for the networking infrastructure in general. Typically, a high end switch with 384 ports requires about 5.9 kW, but a high efficiency power supply can help to reduce the power consumption by 800W. To reduce the power consumption of switches and other devices, a few techniques could be

implemented. One of the solutions is to use highly efficient power supplies for networking equipment as mentioned earlier. Typically, the more efficient power supply could save around 7,200 kW per year for each network switch. Another solution is to use the power management software for network switches. Most network switches already have built-in switch power management software that provides a sleep mechanism when the device or switch is not being used.

Consolidation of Networking Services Traditionally, data and voice traffic used separate networks, which were inefficient and required duplicate services. Since mid-90s there has been the wide adoption of Voice over IP (VoIP) services. The networks were modified to offer low latency and Quality of Service (QoS) to support both data and voice traffic. The trend of consolidation was started by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from AT&T. In the context of green ICT, the implication of this consolidation is clear: one set of network equipment rather than two reduces the energy consumption by 50 percent. Therefore, protocols like VoIP can be considered a green ICT protocol.

Cabling Another important aspect of any network would be cabling. The two types of cabling available today are copper and fiber. Copper cables are used for shorter distances. They are cheaper and mainly used for Local Area Networks (LANs). However, fiber optic cables are much more sensible for moderate to long distances. The fiber terminals are relatively costlier compared to copper, but the cost is irrelevant in the case of very long distances because the energy loss occurring in copper cabling is very high. Fiber is further divided into multimode and single mode.

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For moderate distances, multimode fiber is used whereas for longer distances, single mode fiber is more energy efficient.

Cloud Computing In cloud computing, all the services comes from the “cloud” that refers to Web services, data storage services, back-up services and applications offered by online Service Providers (SPs). The users just need the Internet access and thin clients to access the services. Since the services are maintained by the SPs, the organizations and individuals do not need their own computing equipment and do not have to employ the IT staff to maintain the equipments. Also the SPs can optimally allocate and distribute the computing tasks for more efficient hardware and software use. The relevant metering and billing models are still to be studied and developed for computing, storage, and networking. Security issues are also becoming more critical since many tasks from different users are executed on the same machine or network domain. Finally, automated task and resource allocation is an important problem due to various policies required by customers and regulations imposed by the government in a commercial computing environment.

High Speed Communications and Applications Currently, many areas within U.S. are starting to provide Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) services. For example, Verizon has been deploying fiber to homes for selected regions in the U.S. to provide Voice over IP (VoIP) services and the high-speed Internet. It’s costly to bring fiber to the home but the nationwide broadband network offers several advantages like remote appliance management, presence-based power, decentralized business district, personalized public transport, real-time freight management, and the increased use of renewable energy.

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Remote Appliance Power Management Using the broadband Internet service, the consumers can monitor and control their appliances like refrigerators, washers and dryers through smart metering devices. This allows the consumers to view the real time status of their home appliances from any location. Consumer can also activate certain devices like sprinkler systems while they are away from home.

Presence-Based Power Management Certain devices could be turned on while a person is present at a location. An example is turning off the light automatically when the last person leaves the room using the motion sensor devices. Other applications could be controlling the temperature of each room when a person is present. There are many other applications using the motion sensor devices.

Real-Time Vehicle Management Nowadays, the wireless Internet is almost always available including the duration of air travel. Using the wireless Internet technology and GPS, the location, speed and direction of vehicles can be constantly monitored in real time. This vehicle management system could be used to help more energy-efficient management of freight vehicles and taxies.

Renewable Energy Wind and solar power is great renewable energy. The sensor devices can monitor the wind and solar energy collection devices. The information from these devices could be relayed to any location where the Internet access is available. Therefore, with the broadband infrastructure, monitoring alternative energy sources becomes much easier

A Taxonomy of Green Information and Communication Protocols and Standards

as well as the integration of renewable energy into the electric grid.

Telepresence Video conferencing is becoming more common. The reasons for this increase in usage are video quality and the economic recession. The quality of video has improved drastically because of the improvement in IP technology. There are many video over IP applications provided all over the world with very minimal cost. Companies realize the benefits of using video conferencing as well. Because of their limited budgets, many companies encourage their employees to reduce the travel, which also helps conserve energy.

Green Computing Protocols These protocols consist of software and hardware standards. Each type is explained in detail in the following sections.

Green Software Green software in its pure sense refers to computer programs that consume less energy. This energy efficiency of the software can be accomplished by making the computation more effective and therefore require less CPU cycles for the same computing task. Green software also refers to a set of software that helps better mange systems so that their energy efficiency can be improved (Mata-Toledo and Choi, 2010). This class of software includes high fidelity power metering systems, applications used to design more sustainable buildings, building power management systems, etc. Virtualization is another category of green software. It allows running multiple operating systems simultaneously on the same physical machine. The use of the same hardware for multiple instances of operating systems greatly improves the hardware utilization, resulting in the overall reduction of energy consumption.

Green Hardware As their name suggests, the green hardware protocols refer to standards dedicated to improving computer hardware energy efficiencies. Thin clients, power smart devices, and efficient cooling are the examples of green computer hardware and are discussed in more detail in the following sections.

Thin Client A thin client is a stripped down version of a regular Personal Computer (PC). It usually has less processing power than its PC counterparts since most of processing is done by one or more remote servers. Thin clients simply connect the users to the remote servers through Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Power Smart Devices These refer to computing devices that can turn themselves on and off based on the usage. Power management systems need to be in place to effectively control the power smart devices. Some of the examples of the power management systems include Advanced Power Management System (APM), Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), operating system-directed power management, and Processor Power Management (PPM).

Cooling Especially, in a data center context, the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) are amongst the most important parts of green hardware. The cooling system should either blow cool air directly into the room from the top or be designed to release cold air from the floor. The latter method is more desirable because of the natural tendency of warm air to rise and cold air to descend. New age research has encouraged data

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center designers to use cold air available readily from outside to cool data centers and consequently recycle the hot airs to be used in the central heating of any building. This is still in developmental stages and actual implementations are few and far in between.

Other Green Protocols This section introduces standards other than green networking and green computing protocols. These standards are mainly geared toward measuring the energy efficiencies of the existing products and services.

End User Metrics Each household has a number of products constantly consuming energy. A wise product selection makes a big difference in one’s energy bill, which is why it is crucial for a consumer to have a way to distinguish goods according to their energy efficiency rating.

Energy Star Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). Typically one percent reduction in energy consumption compared to other products in the same category qualifies an electronic appliance for the Energy Star certification. Energy Star is a metric that allows consumers to choose products based on their energy efficiency. Although the standard is geared toward end users, its ultimate goal is to have a positive impact on electronics manufacturers to produce products using less energy. The major elements of an Energy Star label includes (1) an estimated cost, in a dollar amount, for operating an electronic appliance and (2) an intuitive bar graph that shows the level of the product’s energy use compared to both least and most efficient product in the same category. Energy Star covers the

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product categories such as lighting, heating and cooling, office equipment, and home appliances.

Industry Metrics This category of metrics focuses on organizations that operate a wide range of IT equipment. Big corporations often have their own data centers that house numerous servers and networking devices. Due to their around-the-clock operation and the sheer number of machines involved, data centers typically consume an enormous amount of electricity. This makes data centers an obvious target for a conservation attempt that must involve close monitoring of their energy use patterns.

Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) The Green Grid, a global consortium of IT companies and professionals develops standard metrics for measuring data center energy efficiency. PUE is one of these metrics and obtained by dividing a total amount of power supplied to a data center by the actual power usage by the computing equipment (Chouta et al., 2010). To provide an ideal operating environment, data centers require cooling and Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units that also consume energy. As the data centers reduce the cooling and back-up power supply costs, the PUE value (greater than 1) becomes closer to 1.

Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCIE) DCIE is a reciprocal of PUE (Chouta et al., 2010). DCIE is represented as a percentage value. Therefore, it increases toward 100 percent as the energy efficiency of a data center improves.

Corporate Average Data Center Efficiency (CADE) The focus of PUE and DCIE lies in the identification of overhead cost in data centers. As a result,

A Taxonomy of Green Information and Communication Protocols and Standards

PUE and DCIE don’t show the actual utilization of the computing and networking devices. The formula for CADE (Chouta et al., 2010) is shown below.

Industry

CADE = Facility Efficiency × Asset Efficiency where Facility Efficiency = Facility Energy Efficiency × Facility Utilization and IT Energy Efficiency × IT Utilization.

Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) (2010)

The higher CADE is, the more efficient the data center is.

GOVERNING BODIES OF GREEN ICT PROTOCOLS Government Many governmental agencies have continued to implement standards and regulations that encourage green computing. The Energy Star Program (Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy, 2010) was revised in October 2006 to include stricter efficiency requirements for computer equipment along with a tiered ranking system for approved products (Jones, 2006; Gardiner 2007). The EU’s directives, 2002/95/EC (RoHS) on the reduction of hazardous substances and 2002/96/EC (WEEE) on waste electrical and electronic equipment required the substitution of heavy metals and flame retardants like PBBs and PBDEs in all electronic equipment for alternative materials. The directives placed responsibility on manufacturers for the gathering and recycling of old equipment (Producer Responsibility Model). There are currently 26 U.S. States that have established state-wide recycling programs for obsolete computers and consumer electronics equipment (Electronics Take Back Coalition, 2008). The statutes either impose a fee for each unit sold at retail (Advance Recovery Fee Model) or require the manufacturers to reclaim the equipment at disposal (Producer Responsibility Model).

The following describes four major forces in industry for green ICT.

The CSCI is an effort to reduce the electric power consumption of PCs in active and inactive states (Business Wire, 2007). The CSCI provides a catalog of green products from its member organizations and information for reducing PC power consumption. It was started on June 12, 2007. The name stems from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s Climate Savers program, which was launched in 1999 (Climate Saver’s Computing Initiative, 2007).

Green Computing Impact Organization, Inc. (GCIO) (2010) The GCIO is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the end-users of computing products in being environmentally responsible. This mission is accomplished through educational events, cooperative programs and subsidized auditing services. The heart of the group is based on the GCIO Cooperative, a community of environmentally concerned IT leaders who pool their time, resources, and buying power to educate, broaden the use, and improve the efficiency of green computing products and services. Members work to increase the ROI (Return on Investment) of green computing products through a more thorough understanding of measurable and sustainable savings incurred by peers; enforcing a greater drive toward efficiency of vendor products by keeping a community accounting of savings generated; and through group negotiation power.

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Green Electronics Council (GEC) (2010)

STANDARD DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS

The GEC offers the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) (2010) to assist in the purchase of “green” computing systems. The Council evaluates computing equipment on 28 criteria that measure a product’s efficiency and sustainability attributes. On January 24, 2007, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13423 requiring all the U.S. Federal agencies to use EPEAT when purchasing computer systems (Green Electronic Council, 2009; The White House, 2007).

International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)

Green Grid (GG) (2010) The GG is a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems. It was founded in February 2007 by several key companies in the industry – AMD, APC, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Rackable Systems, SprayCool, Sun Microsystems and VMware. The GG has since grown to hundreds of members, including end users and government organizations, all focused on improving data center efficiency. The Green Grid is focused on the following: defining meaningful, user-centric models and metrics; developing standards, measurement methods, processes and new technologies to improve data center performance against the defined metrics; and promoting the adoption of energy efficient standards, processes, measurements and technologies.

Processor Power Management (PPM) (lesswatts.org, 2010) LessWatts (lesswatts.org, 2010) is working for end users, open source developers and vendors, focused on delivering the components and tools needed to reduce the power used by systems running Linux.

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The ITU-T established Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change (FGICT&CC) in July 2008 and successfully completed its work in April 2009. The scope of FGICT&CC is to identify from the standardization viewpoint, within the competences of ITU-T, the impact of ICTs on Climate Change, in particular the reduction of ICT’s own emissions over their entire lifecycle (direct impact), the mitigation that follows through the adoption of ICTs in other relevant sectors (indirect impact), and facilitating the monitoring of relevant climate parameters. The Focus Group analyzed and identified gaps in the areas of definitions, general principles, methodologies and appropriate tools to characterize the impact of ICTs on Climate Change and supported the development of appropriate international standards (ITU-T Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change, 2010). Study Group 5 has started work on turning the deliverables of the Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change into ITU-T Recommendations. In addition to Study Group 5’s two Working Parties involved in studies related to the electromagnetic environment, a new Working Party dealing with ICTs and Climate Change has been established (ITU-T Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change, 2010). Study Group 5 is leading studies on electromagnetic compatibility and electromagnetic effects and ICTs and climate change (ITU-T Study Group 5, 2010). The following shows a few reports relevant to Green ICT published by ITU-T Technology Watch Program. •

NGNs and Energy Efficiency, ITU-T Technology Watch Report #7, August 2008,

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Distributed Computing: Utilities, Grids & Clouds, ITU-T Technology Watch Report #9, March 2009, Batteries for Portable ICT Devices, ITU-T TechWatch Alert #2, February 2010, and Remote Collaboration Tools, ITU-T Technology Watch Report #5, March 2008.

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) In the community of IETF (2010) which is an international standard body mainly working on TCP/IP-based Internet protocols, Green TCP/IP and IPv6 protocols are main protocols currently being worked on toward more greening. Compared to ITU-T’s activities on Green ICT, the IETF’s standardization progresses relevant to Green ICT are relatively slow and not comprehensive. More detailed information about different aspects of current green IT standards can be found in research conducted by Chouta et al. (2010).

Venues Recently, people started to discuss the topic of green ICT as a track or a whole conference theme. Some conferences relevant to green ICT were identified as the following as of this writing. •

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Dynamic Coalition on Internet and Climate Change (DCICC). Second DCICC meeting: 16 November 2009, 14.30-16.00, Sharm el Sheikh International Congress Center Room 9, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Workshop “Greening the Internet” at 4th IGF Meeting organized by the ITU, IISD and Nile University at The Internet Governance Forum 2009 on 17 November 2009, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Virtual Conference on ICTs and Climate Change, 23 September 2009, Seoul, Korea.

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First International Workshop on Green Communications (GreenComm’09), Dresden, Germany, June 18, 2009. Green Communications 2008, The Case Studies Conference, The Graduate Center/ CUNY, NY, USA, July 15, 2008. Green Business Conference, Chicago, Illinois, USA, May 13-14, 2008.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND CONCLUSION This chapter has exhaustively reviewed green ICT protocols and standards. A majority of these protocols and standards are still under development and require a significant consolidation effort. This chapter also lays a foundation for future efforts to ensure interoperability of the green ICT protocols and standards by providing a clear hierarchy of the existing protocols and standards. As new green ICT standards and protocols appear, one can easily incorporate them into the existing hierarchy due to its systematic structure. Any conflicting or overlapping requirements of the related protocols and standards can be easily detected as the taxonomy becomes more mature.

REFERENCES Angell, D. (2008). Wi-Fi Gets Personal with Intel’s Cliffside Technology. Retrieved from http://blogs. intel.com/technology/2008/07 /wifi_gets_personal_with_intel.php Baburajan, K. (2008). Explosive Growth - The escalating rural market has ensured a parallel growth path for wireless infrastructure providers. Retrieved from http://voicendata.ciol.com/con tent/Vnd100-2008/108060314.asp. Boivie, E. (1982). TCO Takes the Initiative in Comparative Product Testing. Retrived from http:// www.boivie.se/index.php?page=2&lang=eng

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Business Wire. (2007) Intel and Google Join with Dell, EDS, EPA, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, PG&E, World Wildlife Fund and Others to Launch Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Retrived from http://www.askwebhosting.com/st ory/5097/ Intel_and_Google_Join_with_Dell_E Chilamkurti, N., Zeadally, S., & Mentiply, F. (2009). Green Networking for Maor Components of Information Communication Technology Systems. EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking, 1, 7. Chin, M. (2002), Recommended Hard Drives. Retrived from http://www.silentpcreview.com / article29-page1.html. Chin, M. (2004). Is the Silent PC Future 2.5-inches wide? Retrived from http://www.silentpcreview. com/arti cle145-page1.html. Choi, Y. B., Oh, T. H., Ryoo, J., & Choi, Y. (2009). Design of a Greening Assessment Framework for Green Computing and Communications: Green Protocol. Presented at the 2009 US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (UKC-2009), Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, NC: KSEA. Chouta, R., Oh, T. H., Ryoo, J., & Cho, Y. B. (2010). Parameters of Green IT. In North East Decision Science Institute 2010 Annual Conference. Alexandria, VA: NEDSI.

DS_EPA_HP_IBM_Lenovo_Microsoft_PGandE_World_Wildlife_Fund_and_Others_to_ Launch_Climate_Savers_Computing_Initiative. html Electronics TakeBack Coalition. (2008). Electronics TakeBack Coalition. Retrieved March 29, 2010, from http://www.electronicstakeback.com/ Elizabeth, R. (2006). Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash (pp. 169–170). New York: Back Bay Books. First International Workshop on Green Communications. (GreenComm ‘09).(2009). Dresden, Germany. Gardiner, B. (2007). How Important Will New Energy Star Be for PC Makers?PC Magazine. Garrabrant, R. (2005). Cree LED Backlight Solution Lowers Power Consumption of LCD Displays. Retrived from http://www.cree.com/press/press_ detail.asp?i=1143574732375 GeSI’s Activity Report. (June, 2008). The Climate Group on behalf of the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI). SMART 2020: enabling the low carbon economy in the information age. Retrived from https://www.gesi.org. Google. (April 2009). Google container data center tour. Retrived from http://www.flixxy.com/ goog le-container-data-center.htm.

Cisco White Papers. (2009). Evaluating and enhancing green practices with cisco catalyst switching. Retrived from http://www.cisco.com/ en/US/prod/collat eral/switches/ps5718/ps10195/ white_paper_c11-514642.html

Granger, T. (2007). Goodwill Teams with Electronic Recyclers to Recycle eWaste. Retrived from http://earth911.com/news/2007/08/ 15/ goodwill-teams-with-electronic-recyclers-torecycle-ewaste/

Climate Savers Computing. (2010). Climate Savers Computing - Home. Retrieved March 29, 2010, from http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/

Green Computing Impact Organization, Inc. (GCIO). (2010). Feeling pressured to make your Company “green”? Retrieved from http://www. gcio.org/

Delaney, J. (2007). 15 Ways to Reinvent Your PC. Retrived from http9://www.pcmag.com/ article2/0,2817,2170238,00.asp

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Green Electronics Council. (2007). President Bush Requires Federal Agencies to Buy EPEAT Registered Green Electronic Products (PDF). Retrived from http://www.greenelectronicscouncil.org/ Grid, G. (n.d.). The Green Grid. Retrieved from http://www.thegreengrid.org/home. IETF. (2010). Internet Engineering Task Force. Retrieved March 29, 2010, from http://www. ietf.org/ IPv6.org. (n.d.). IPv6: The Next Generation Internet! Retrieved March 29, 2010, from http:// www.ipv6.org/ Irish, L., & Christensen, K. (1998). A “Green TCP/ IP” to reduce electricity consumed by computers. In Proceedings IEEE Southeastcon ‘98 ‘Engineering for a New Era’ (pp. 302-305). Presented at the IEEE Southeastcon ‘98 ‘Engineering for a New Era’, Orlando, FL, USA. doi:10.1109/ SECON.1998.673356 ITU (2008). NGNs and Energy Efficiency, ITU-T Technology Watch Report #7. ITU (2009). Distributed Computing: Utilities, Grids & Clouds, ITU-T Technology Watch Report #9. ITU (2010). Batteries for Portable ICT Devices, ITU-T TechWatch Alert #2. ITU (2010). Remote Collaboration Tools, ITU-T Technology Watch Report #5. ITU-T. (2010). ITU-T - Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change. Retrieved March 29, 2010, from http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/focusgroups/climate/ Jones, E. (2006). EPA Announces New Computer Efficiency Requirements, U. S. EPA. lesswatts.org. (2010). LessWatts.org - Saving Power on Intel systems with Linux. Retrieved March 29, 2010, from http://lesswatts.org/

Mallon, G., & Burton, D. (2007). Towards a highbandwidth, low-carbon future: telecommunications-based opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Retrieved from http://telstra.com. au/. Mata-Toledo, R., & Choi, Y. B. (2010). Green Computing. In Year Book of Science and Technology. New York: McGraw Hill. Meyev, A. (2008). SSD, i-RAM and Traditional Hard Disk Drives. Retrived from http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/stora ge/display/ssd-iram.html Mitchell, R. (2007, April) Seven steps to a green data center. Retrived from http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/ 295302/Seven_Steps_to_a_ Green_Data_Center Panko, R. R. (2008). Business Data Networks and Telecommunications (7th ed.). Prentice Hall. Patel, C. (2005) Cost model for planning, development and operation of a data center. Tech. Rep., HP Laboratories, Palo Alto, Calif, USA, June 2005. Pointon, D. (2008). Data center sustainability: a facilities view. In Proceedings of the Symposium on Sustainability of the Internet and ICT. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, November 2008. Schuhmann, Daniel. (2005). Strong Showing: High-Performance Power Supply Units. Tom’s Hardware. Segan, S. (2007). Green Tech: Reduce, Reuse, That’s It. PC Magazine 26 Sobel, B. (2008). Green Communications, The Case Studies Conference. Retrived from http:// www.sobelmedia.com/200 8/06/30/bdi-greencommunications-2008-the-case-studies-conference/ Star, E. (2007), Computer Key Product Criteria, Retrived from http://www.energystar.gov/in dex. cfm?c=computers.pr_crit_computers.

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The White House: Office of the Press Secretary (2007). Executive Order: Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management. Press release. Retrieved from www. whitehouse.gov/omb/circul ars/a11/current_year/ energy.pdf U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), & U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). (n.d.). Home: ENERGY STAR. Retrieved March 16, 2010, from http://www.energystar.gov/

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Green ICT: Information and communication technologies that are environmentally sensitive

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and designed to conserve energy, compared to their conventional counterparts Green Networking Protocols: Networking protocols making it possible for hosts (or computing devices) to exchange data in a more energy-efficient fashion Green Computing Protocols: Computing protocols related to processing the data in a more energy-efficient fashion Green Hardware Protocols: Green computing protocols that focus on their electro-mechanical aspect Green Software Protocols: Green computing protocols that focus on their programming aspect

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Chapter 27

Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network Ekata Mehul eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India Rahul Shah eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India

ABSTRACT Currently, there are global efforts being made for energy saving. Lot of efforts are being done exploring the generation of alternative resources of energy – also called renewable energies which includes solar, nuclear, water and wind, to name but a few. Besides investigations of renewable energies, a global attempt is also being made to save energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions. A need to have a comprehensive Energy Management System could not have been felt more by both businesses and individuals. This Chapter describes features required for a complete system of energy management focusing on Electrical Energy. The system is designed making use of wireless sensor network & standard protocols. Chapter will address firstly the theoretical aspects of energy management followed by the detailed model for Automatic Meter Reading concept. We will focus on the features of such an Energy Management System & limits our scope to the detailing of Automatic Meter Reading concept and design.

INTRODUCTION In this era of global warming everybody needs to concentrate on the conservation of energy and other natural resources. Lot of invention is already being done in the direction of more production of energy; even the alternative methods are applied. But with all this also, the better & long term solution is to use them with caution, since we can not DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch027

take even single step without a bit of energy. And we already are aware of world moving towards energy & other natural resource crisis. Businesses world-wide are now involved in saving energy consumption and reducing their carbon footprint. Lot of major companies viz. Suzlon (suzlon.com), Wipro, Schneider (schneiderelectric.com) L&T, Meshnetics (meshnetics.com), to name the few have come up with their unique solutions and approaches to either save the energy or produce an alternative source of energy. But

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Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network

all these initiatives can bear results only when it is supported by a complete & comprehensive Energy Management System consisting of the all the features as listed below. Such energy management system will have immense opportunities for application in business, government and individual endeavors. Today utilities like electricity, gas, water are being wasted in many more way. It is our responsibility towards the world to manage these resources efficiently. Technologies may contribute in reduction of energy and peak power consumption as well as to make a more efficient deregulated power market. Automatic meter reading, remote load control, etc are some of the examples of such technology. We try to figure out how to manage Electricity efficiently, conveniently and with lesser investment making it less costly as well. Features Supported by Energy Management Systems: •

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Remote collection of measured energy value: including kwa, kwh (Kilowatts per hour – energy usage), rms (revolutions – helps in measuring the energy usage), power factor, hourly consumption of energy and temperature, etc Tracking of complete energy usage at every fixed interval: Continuous tracking of energy usage can be done & plotting the energy usage with respect to time needs to be available. Tracking the tampering done with energy usage i.e. Outage Management: AMR communication capability will enable us to point out outage condition (Power out) with reduced response time and hence outage duration. Also the continuous tracking will help us quickly identify the tampering conditions. ON / OFF control of this energy supply which will indirectly enable wireless monitoring of energy consumption – Just on the single signal from the controller, the

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•

•

•

•

•

energy supply chain can be controlled. We need to have a feedback loop for the same, improving the energy efficiency Automated billing / Prepaid billing etc through web based interface / telephone network: Once the Remote reading is done, automated software for the Billing is used. We can even have prepaid billing implemented. Sub metering Solutions: the same automatic meter reading solution needs to be implemented with much lesser control. Usage of energy on demand i.e. demand side management: It means based on peak load demand we will offer different hourly prices for the customer which will enable customers to react according to change in prices of electricity. There are also some pricing schemes available which will try to manage peak load control by offering high pricing during Peak hours. Advanced Metering with Distribution Automation: Once the continuous tracking of the energy resources is done, this can be easily controlled using the software. Power quality control: Demand of good QoS can be monitored and can be provided dynamically. Once energy consumption data is available, it can be used for purpose of dynamic tariff management, dynamic load management, power quality monitoring, peak power consumption etc. and providing other value added services. Active load control/Load balancing/Load diagram, with information on every secondary substation load, the dispatcher can have more precise data about overloaded critical area and peak load as well, which enable us to take preventive measure before the dangerous situation. One of the driving forces for providing intelligent meter is load management because the only alternative for meeting the demand is to build new power plants.

Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network

AUTOMATIC METER READING Electrical energy meter reading has been always done manually by a staff of meter readers who used to visit every meter location periodically and enter the meter reading by hand. These readings were then added to previously read values or what can be called (the customer consumption registry), from which the cost of the consumed energy during the latest cycle (usually a month) can be calculated. This could be either a paper or computerized job. In some cases where consumption rationalization strategies are followed; the consumer is charged for the energy unit proportionally to his/her total consumption. Lot of mal practices may be followed where ever such rationalization strategies are followed. In addition, many problems usually face the reader’s job like being unable to reach the meter location, the absence of the property owners at the visit time or simply the human error in recording the meter reading. (Sreenivasan, ksebpa.org) Various methods were and are developed to overcome the old traditional method limitations, trying to make electricity metering in general and meter reading in particular more accurate, reliable and functional. The new meter-reading methods can be classified into the following categories: Electronic Meter Reading (EMR): This method only differs from the recording book method in that readings are entered directly through a keyboard to a mini-computer where data can be loaded easily to the system’s main server at the utility office. Remote Meter Reading (RMR): A typical hand-held device with an optical-sensing or infra-red port is used here to automatically read and store the meter reading once the reader holds his device and directs its port to the meter side. In this method the probability of human error in recording the readings is effectively reduced. Off-Site Meter Reading (OMR): This is the first step in migration to the AMR technology. It consists of a Portable Radio Network installed

in handheld devices. In the other side, a transmitter, or a transceiver, is installed in the meter. The handheld device will then receive the meter reading while walking or slowly driving by the reading route. It is mandatory that the meter area is personally visited by the reader since the wireless communication between the meter and hand-held device is of the short-range and minimum-power type due to size limitations of both devices, as well as the highly-lossy medium of the communication channel by nature (buildings, trees, metal gates, etc…). Mobile AMR: A special purpose vehicle is prepared with equipment that can communicate with the meters using relatively high antenna connected to a sensitive radio transceiver. The meter readings are gathered by the vehicle while driving the route only. A computer installed in the vehicle processes the data received from the meters and can either keep them to be loaded manually at the utility or send them directly to the utility by means of a long-range communication network such as cellular or satellite. It is clear that this method benefits as much as it can from the utility’s vehicle capabilities to reduce the losses, size and time limitations of the previous system, however a new disadvantage arises which is the inability of the vehicle to reach the range of the meter transmission in crowded or randomly-built areas. Fully AMR: In this method, it completely eliminates many of the problems or a limitation faced in the other systems and opens the door for new functions, applications and developments to be added to the system. Section below defines the complete architecture of Full AMR.

WIRELESS BASE ARCHITECTURE FOR ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: Figure 1 shows the picture of the basic working model of the proposed energy management system.

379

Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network

To achieve the above mentioned features, the base architecture on which the complete energy management system can be build is logically divided in three main parts described later:

The meter reads the readings of energy usage, processes data for a variety of applications, stores data temporarily and transports the data to the Host Computer / Router when required.

• •

Wireless Network using Internet Clouding and GSM / GPRS Enhancements

•

Digital Energy Meter Design Wireless Network using Internet Clouding & GSM / GPRS enhancements Web based Software design

Digital Energy Meter Design Square boxes in Figure 1 represent the meters connected to the house / industry. For having wireless communication between the meters currently, we have to • •

enhance the exiting meters by some wireless transceivers for communication If new meters to be made, they can be directly made using sensors have lesser costing as compared to current meters.

As explained in the Figure 1 squares within the circle indicates Digital Energy meter (can be Sensor Node too) having wireless communication capability. So by means of this wireless capability they can transfer data to each other and they can also perform multi hoping by using standard protocol stack. This energy meter may be connected to home, industry, organization etc. This energy meter can also be the main energy meter for the sub metering details (on the same lines) internally. It may be also connected to substation or any other measure poles. Each of energy meters will have a routing capability to support the multi hopping concept.

Figure 1. Basic wireless architecture for energy management system

380

Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network

Also there is one major collecting meter node where it collects the data from the entire surrounding meter and it is only that meter that needs to be addressed by the main central office. That meter basically acts as a regional concentrator and routing device having the primary functions of data transfer and information routing surrounding meters and Host Computer Signal coming out from each meter will be encrypted for security reasons. This multi hoping concept will be useful for robustness & scalability of the system. And then finally all the meters with the colony / small area gets connected to the main router, which in turn is connected to the main office through Internet / GSM network. As we have seen node will have wireless communication capability. So it will be enabled with 2.4 GHz ISM (Instrumental Scientific Medical) transceiver. And specifically this transceiver will have compatibility to wireless standard which is specifically designed for low rate data transfer. So we will need to design wireless transceiver for this application.

Web Based Software Design on Central Host Computer The Host Computer at the Central Office manages the collection of data from the network devices and facilitates the download of any application information to appropriate network devices. It also transfers the data to a database for storage and retrieval. Web based Software captures the energy meter data from the wireless network through coordinator internet capability node. So this will enable user friendly access to the Power consumption data and Power Quality data. And it will also provide platform for controlling power remotely & managing the captured data of the usage of the energy. To implement all the features of the Energy Management System, the system described in Figure 1, provides the basic back bone. Example of Web based software from Meshnetics is as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 shows node on the computer screen based on its connection with other node, it also shows sensor reading of a particular node in con-

Figure 2. Communication between two nodes using WSN software from Meshnetics

381

Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network

nection with a coordinator which is being connected to computer. This software usage can only be suitable when numbers of nodes are less or we need to test the wireless connections between groups of nodes. In real practice, data read need to be stored in database accessible in all the forms, even as for individual. Figure 3 explains the architecture of the software we need to design for storing of the data collected from wireless energy network.

•

ENERGY DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

•

As shown in Figure 4, a layout of the entire energy distribution system is shown and also the places where the wireless meters needs to be placed to get all the benefits of the system as mentioned above. (Joao costa, 2001)

GREEN BENEFITS FROM THE FULLY AMR SYSTEM Although the described system may seem to be very costly initially; significant saving in terms of time, efficiency and accuracy of reading should compensate after the system activation. (M. Baker) •

• •

• • •

382

Reduction in meter reading staff: Human intervention in terms of meter reading or checking tampering is avoided since details are automated. Hence lot of recurring cost reduction. Improving accuracy and billing efficiency Eliminating the need to access premises: Neither any human nor some other device / vehicle is required. Enabling remote line connection/disconnection process Theft identification (Saptarsi De, 2003) Improving outage detection and restoration reporting

•

•

Improving reliability: Complete control and management over the complete system with easy access with telephone / internet. Improving distribution system planning: Quickly recognizing potential problems and delivering notifications to stakeholders through the web based technology enables both service contractors and facilities staff to maintain efficient facilities and helps companies realize cost savings while simultaneously being responsible corporate citizens. Delivery of new services to customers: Power Production Company can offer various options to the customer in terms of service which helps in providing better service in cost effective way Scalability in the system: Any new communication link can be established in less than 24 hrs. Adding or Deletion of any new meter is very handy & it does not affect the routing of any other data as well.

Figure 3. Architecure of the software for data storage

Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network

Figure 4. Energy Distribution network

It is possible to install an effective energy management system at a fraction of the cost of a traditional hard-wired system. Whether your commercial building is retail space, offices, a hotel, or housing, you can install a wireless solution with minimal impact on current occupants and no disruption to the building’s structure. Wireless sensors can be placed virtually anywhere, without having to pull wires or drill into walls. Wireless controls are equally flexible, so an energy savings installation can get off the ground in less time than any wired solution. • • •

•

Improving customer satisfaction. No FCC licenses are required to operate since operates in ISM band Not much of skill is required to manage the system i.e. the system is very much user friendly Energy saving: From day one, customer have a clear picture of energy usage; Energy saving solutions can range from basic remote metering to comprehensive metering, monitoring, and control technologies integrated with an existing building

automation system. (www.industrial-embedded.com) (Harney, 2001)

CONCLUSION Thus with the lot of systems already exiting in the market, they are mainly trying to solve the problems in parts. This is the complete system in itself. Also the technology used is latest & approved thus making the system more reliable and cost effective, having direct advantage in saving of energy as well.

REFERENCES AMR Technology (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.mastermeter.com/en/cat_Autom aticMeterReading.html?category=Automatic%20 Meter%20Reading

Baker, M. (1999). Added value services through the use of AMR in commercial and Industrial Accounts. Conference Metering and tariffs for energy supply.

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Energy Management System Using Wireless Sensor Network

Black, J. W., et al. (2001). Survey of Technologies and Cost Estimates for Residential Electricity Services. IEEE. Costa, J. (2001). Control and Monitoring of electrical distribution grid using automatic readers system. IEEE Porto power tech conference. Athens, Greece. Harney, A. (in press).(2001).Smart Metering Technology Promotes Energy Efficiency for a Greener World. Mak, S., et al. (1995, January). Design Considerations for Implementation of Large Scale Automatic Meter Reading Systems. IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 10(1). Mesh Netics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www. meshnetics.com/zig bee-applications/amr Mindteck Company Presentation New Zigbee Smart Energy Profile delivers efficiency and savings. (n.d.). Retrieved from www. industrial-embedded.com. PCB Power (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www. pcbpower.com Saptarsi, De, et al. (2003). e-Metering Solution for checking energy thefts and streamlining revenue collection in INDIA. IEEE. Schneider Electric. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.schneider-electric.co.in/site s/india/en/ home.page

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Suzlon. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.suzlon. com The President’s council of Advisors on Science & Technology. (in press). The Energy Imperative, Technology and the Role of Emerging Companies. G. Sreenivasan (www.ksebpa.org).(n.d.). Pilferage of electricity: Issues and Challenges: Kerala State, Electricity Board. Viewed 27 January 2010 Zigbee smart energy features.(n.d.). Retrieved from www.zigbee.org. Zigbee wireless networking powers: Advanced Metering. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.meter-

ing.com

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Energy Management System: The complete system that manages the energy right from production to the usage at every level and does the analysis of the data. Automatic Meter Reading: Reading of Energy Meter Automatically without any human / vehicle coming nearer to the meter. It is done remotely sitting at some site. Wireless Meter Reading: Reading the meter wirelessly WSN Software: Widearea Sensor Network Software is the software that can read the data from the the complete wide area network

385

Chapter 28

Exploratory Analysis of FossilFuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis Sargam Parmar Ganpat University, India Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia

ABSTRACT Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most important gases in the atmosphere, and is necessary for sustaining life on Earth. However, it is also a major greenhouse gas out of the six that contribute to global warming and climate change. During the last decade technologists, economists and sociologists are taking substantial interest in studying the impact of greenhouse phenomenon. Scientists are trying to find solutions to reduce CO2 emissions by changes in structure of energy production and consumption. Every attempt is being made to use new models and methods to estimate measure and monitor greenhouse gases in the future. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a method for automatically identifying a set of underlying factors in a given data set. This chapter describes the use of the ICA algorithm in Environmentally Intelligent (EI) applications. EI applications have a wide ranging responsibilities including collection, analysis and reporting of environmental data related to the organization. ICA algorithm opens up the opportunity to improve the quality of data being analyzed by these EI applications. ICA finds application in several fields of interest and it is a tempting alternative to try ICA on multivariate time series such as a CO2 emission from fossil fuel for the period 1950 to 2006. This chapter describes the linear mapping of the observed multivariate time series into a new space of statistically independent components (ICs) that might reveal driving mechanisms for CO2 emissions that may otherwise remain hidden. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch028

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

INTRODUCTION Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most important gases in the atmosphere, and is necessary for sustaining life on Earth. However, it is also a major greenhouse gas out of the six (http:// www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/) that contribute to global warming and climate change. During the last decade technologists, economists and sociologists are taking substantial interest in studying the impact of greenhouse phenomenon. Scientists are trying to find solutions to reduce CO2 emissions by changes in structure of energy production and consumption. Every attempt is being made to use new models and methods to estimate measure and monitor greenhouse gases in the future. Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a method for automatically identifying a set of underlying factors in a given data set. This chapter describes the use of the ICA in Environmentally Intelligent (EI) applications (see Unhelkar and Trivedi, 2009) that will improve the quality of data being analyzed by these EI applications. This rapidly evolving technique is currently finding applications in several fields of interest and it is a tempting alternative to try ICA on multivariate time series such as a CO2 emission from fossil fuel for the period 1950 to 2006. The key idea here is to linearly map the observed multivariate time series into a new space of statistically independent components (ICs) that might reveal some driving mechanisms that may otherwise remain hidden. Estimates of the amount of carbon emitted in to the atmosphere from fossil-fuel burning produce can be considered as a basic time-series in this context. Different kinds of time-series have been recorded and studied. Nowadays, all transactions on carbon emitted to the atmosphere from fossil-fuel burning are recorded, leading to a huge amount of data available, either freely or commercially on the Internet.

386

Furthermore, the stochastic uncertainties inherent in fossil-fuel CO2 emissions time-series and the theory needed to deal with them make the subject especially interesting not only to economists, but also to statisticians and physicists. Fossil fuel CO2 emissions systems is a complex evolved dynamic system with high volatility and noise. Due to its irregularity, fossil fuel CO2 emissions time series forecasting is regarded as a rather challenging task. CO2 emission estimate systems require more advanced signal processing methods, and correct reception of CO2 emission time series is more difficult because of several phenomena such as annual global CO2 emissions from solid fuels, liquid fuels, natural gas, gas flaring, and cement manufacturing. This chapter describes the use of the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) in Environmentally Intelligent (EI) applications that will improve the quality of data being analyzed by these EI applications. ICA is a method for automatically identifying a set of underlying factors in a given data set. This rapidly evolving technique is currently finding applications in several fields of interest and it is a tempting alternative to try ICA on multivariate time series such as a CO2 emission from fossil fuel for the period 1950 to 2006. The key idea here is to linearly map the observed multivariate time series into a new space of statistically independent components (ICs) that might reveal some driving mechanisms that otherwise remain hidden. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2 provides a background to ICA and a guide on how to estimate the independent components. Section 3 discusses some issues concerning the general application of ICA to CO2 emission from fossil fuel. Results are shown for global CO2 emission in general and specifically for India’s CO2 emission in section 4. Finally, section 5 concludes the chapter with a discussion and thoughts on future directions.

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

INDEPENDENT COMPONENT ANALYSIS Consider the classical ICA model Figure 1 with instantaneous mixing x = As + n

(1)

where the sources s = [s1,s2,…, sn] are mutually independent random variables and Anxn is an unknown invertible mixing matrix and noise n = [n1,n2,…, nn]T . The goal is to find only from observations, x, a matrix W such that the output

is the matrix of orthogonal eigenvectors and Δ is a diagonal matrix with the corresponding eigenvalues. The whitening is done by multiplication with the transformation matrix P P = VΔ1/2VT

(4)

Z = Px

(5)

T

y = Wx

(2)

is an estimate of the possible scaled and permutated source vectors. Preprocessing for ICA: Some preprocessing is useful before attempting to estimate W. i. The observed signals should be centered by subtracting their mean value E{x} x = x - E{x}

(3)

ii. Then they are whitened, which means they are linearly transformed so that the components are uncorrelated and has unit variance. iii. Whitening can be performed via eigenvalue decomposition of the covariance matrix, VΔVT, V

This is closely related to principal component analysis. The covariance of the whitened data E{ZZT } equals the identity matrix. For simplicity, let x be the centered mixed vector estimated x, i.e. x = estimated x Jutten and Herault (1991) provided one of the first significant approaches to the problem of blind separation of instantaneous linear mixtures. Since then, many different approaches have been attempted by numerous researches using neural networks, artificial learning, higher order statistics, minimization of mutual information, beam forming and adaptive noise cancellation, each claiming various degrees of success. Several algorithms exist for blind source separation. We evaluate the performance of JADE (Joint Approximate Diagonalization of Eigen matrices) algorithm in a blind source separation problem. This section presents a brief description of the respective approaches of the JADE algorithm.

Figure 1. Schematic illustration of the mathematical model used to perform ICA decomposition

387

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

A. JADE Algorithm The JADE (Joint Approximate Diagonalization of Eigen matrices) algorithm optimizes a transform of a particular set of statistics about the data. The starting point of the JADE algorithm is the realization that Blind Sources Separation (BSS) algorithms generally require an estimation of the distributions of the independent sources or have such an assumption built in the algorithm. All of the information theoretic measures can be calculated by operations on cumulants, e.g., variance and kurtosis are the second and fourth order auto-cumulants. The advantage of operating on cross-cumulants is that the algorithms do not require gradient descent and thus avoid any convergence problems. A side effect of this is that the JADE algorithm requires no parameter tuning for good performance. A disadvantage of this approach is that estimating a complete set of fourth-order cross cumulants requires storage of O(n4) cumulant matrices. The cumulant matrix with elements [Qx(A)] is defined as [Q x (A)]ij = ∑ Cum(x i , x j , x k , xl )Akl k = j =l



(6)

where A is an n x n matrix and x is an n x 1 random vector. 1. Form the sample covariance Rx and compute a whitening matrix Z i.e., we transform x to ext x which is white i.e., its components are uncorrelated and their variances equal unity. E{xxT}=I (Identity matrix). Whitening of data reduces the number of computations to approximately half (from n2 to n(n-1)/2). 2. Form the fourth order cumulants Q of the whitened process P = Zx and compute the m most significant Eigen pairs Ne = λr Mr |1 ≤ r ≤ m (m= no. of sources).

388

3. Joint diagonalize the set Ne = λr Mr |1 ≤ r ≤ m by a unitary matrix U after computation of given angle, θ, and updating it, we find cos q − sin q    G =   sin q cos q  We calculate U using G and N. 4. An estimate of  is  = U†Z The JADE algorithm uses second and fourth order cumulants. The second order cumulant is used to ensure the data is ``white’’ (i.e., decorrelated). This produces a whitening matrix Z and the whitened sources P. A set of cumulant matrices is estimated from the whitened sources. The separated matrix can be estimated as U†Z. The JADE contrast function is the sum of squared fourth-order cross cumulants from the set defined in Equation(6): ΦJADE (Y ) = ∑ (Qijkl ) ijkl ≠ iikl 2

(7)

SYSTEM MODEL Fossil fuel consumption, along with deforestations is considered the major anthropogenic source of increased atmospheric CO2. Methods of determining the magnitude of CO2 production as a result of fossil fuel burning is essential to the understanding of the possible causes and consequences of the observed increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Improvement of these methods will enhance our ability to accurately project future CO2 emission scenarios. The CO2 emissions system model as shown in Figure 2 with instantaneous mixing r = Gb + n

(8)

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Figure 2. Schematic illustration of the Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions mathematical model used to perform ICA decomposition

where the sources b = [b1,b2,…, bn]T are mutually independent time series of emissions from Liquid Fuels, total Fossil-Fuel emissions, emissions from Solid Fuels, emissions from Gas Fuels, emissions from Cement Production and emissions from Gas Flaring. Gnxn is an unknown invertible mixing matrix and noise n = [n1,n2,…, nn]T . The goal is to find only from observations, r, a matrix W such that the output y = Wr

(9)

is an estimate of the possible scaled and permutated source vector b. Comparing with the model of linear ICA in Equation (1), b is the source signal s need to be estimated, r is the observed mixed signal x, and G is the unknown mixing matrix A. the noise matrix n in Equation (8) can be treated as an independent component to be added into x.

NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTS A. Global and National (India) CO2 Emissions Data To investigate the effectiveness of ICA technique for CO2 emission time series, we apply it to real

data of Global and national(India) CO2 emissions data from the (Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres. 2009). The data are given from 1950 to 2006 year and annual global CO2 emissions (annual global total; cumulative global total since 1950; and annual global emissions from solid fuels, liquid fuels, natural gas, gas flaring, and cement manufacturing) were used in these calculations. These data provide the estimates of the amount of carbon emitted to the atmosphere from fossil fuel burning. The zero mean six series of fossil fuel CO2 emission series, from 1950 to 2006, are shown according to a lexicographic order in Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 12 and Figure 13. Table 1 shows Global and India’s fossil-fuel CO2 Emissions Estimates Year 2006. Trends of Global Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions: Since 1751 approximately 329 billion tonnes of carbon have been released to the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil fuels and cement production. Half of these emissions have occurred since the mid 1970s. Globally, liquid and solid fuels accounted for 76.6% of the emissions from fossil-fuel burning and cement production in 2006. Combustion of gas fuels (e.g., natural gas) accounted for 18.5% of the total emissions from fossil fuels in 2006 and reflects a gradually increasing global utilization of natural gas. Emis-

389

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Figure 3. Global CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Burning, Cement Manufacture, and Gas Flaring 1950-2006. All emission estimates are expressed in million metric tons of carbon.

Figure 4. Normalized input signals (a) Emissions from Liquid Fuels (b) Total Fossil-Fuel Emissions (c) Emissions from Solid Fuels (d) Emissions from Gas Fuels (e) Emissions from Cement Production (f) Emissions from Gas Flaring.

sions from cement production represent 4.2% of global CO2 releases from fossil-fuel burning and cement production and gas flaring, accounts for less than 1% of global fossil-fuel releases. Trends of India Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions: From 1950 to 2006, India experienced dramatic

390

growth in fossil-fuel CO2 emissions averaging 5.8% per year and becoming the world’s fourth largest fossil-fuel CO2-emitting country. Fossilfuel emissions in India continue to result largely from coal burning with India being the world’s third largest producer of coal. Coal contributed

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Table 1. CO2 emissions estimates year 2006 India’s (Thousand Metric Tons of Carbon)

Global (Million Metric Tons of Carbon)

Total Fossil-Fuel Emissions

411914

8230

Emissions from Liquid Fuels

88323

3108

Emissions from Gas Fuels

13494

1521

Emissions from Solid Fuels

287835

3193

Emissions from Gas Flaring

502

59

Emissions from Cement Productions

21760

348

Per Capita Emission rate

0.37

1.25

70% in 2006, at the same time, the oil fraction 21%. With the world’s second largest population and over one billion people, India’s per capita emission rate for 2006 of 0.37 metric tons of carbon is well below the global average (1.25). Based on available data, in this study we try to analyze the distribution of CO2 emission general in Global context and specific, in particular to India to estimate some basic independent components between different fossil-fuel CO2 emissions.

B. Performance Evaluation Care must be taken when choosing a performance index to measure the relative performance of ICA method. This is so because in some cases the objective function optimized by a method may be directly linked to the performance measure being used. If the true sources and mixing matrix are available, the similarity between the original and estimated sources, or the gap between the true and the estimated mixing matrix are all, in the above sense, more impartial measures of separation quality. However, in extraction of CO2 emission data from real observed signals obtained from recording, the information required to compute such parameters is unavailable. Hence, in many occasions one is left with the a heuristic performance assessment based, for instance, on visual inspection of the extracted waveforms, together

with certain considerations related to the application in hand. In order to access the separation quality offered by ICA method in quantitative terms, some performance indices need to be defined. The visualization of similarity between the original and estimated sources is used in this work to evaluate the separation results.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Global Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions data were taken in the first setup and JADE algorithm applied to extract independent components. The extracted component results have been plotted. As the original source signals and true mixing matrix are not available, we have gone with a heuristic performance assessment like visual inspection of the obtained waveforms. Therefore, the bestextracted time series are taken from the algorithm and plotted in figures to have a good comparison. India’s Fossil-Fuel CO2 emissions data were taken in the second setup and JADE algorithm applied to extract independent components for more robust analysis. The figures indicate that the algorithm is able to extract the time series signals. In a study it has been found that ICA is a complementary tool to PCA, allowing the underlying structure of the data to be more readily observed. The assumption of having underlying

391

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

independent components in time series analysis might not be unrealistic. For example, factors like seasonal or annual variations, and factors having a sudden effect on the CO2 emission like government intervention, natural or man-made disaster, can be expected to be roughly independent of each other. By ICA we thus expect to isolate the underlying structures making it possible to group the series on the basis of their large and small scale variability. To investigate the effectiveness of ICA techniques for time series, we apply it to data from the (Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres. 2009) as shown in Figure 3. In particular, we have used data, from 1950 until 2006, of global CO2 emissions. The zero mean six-time series of data, between 19950 and 2006, are shown according to a lexicographic order in Figure 4. Table 2 also provides the correlation among the series. As it can be seen there are some series that show some less correlations while series 5, being correlated with only series 6, seems to be very different from the rest of the set. The ICA analysis starts by first preprocessing the data. After removing the mean and standardized the data, the whitening procedure is performed via PCA, which is also useful to determine the number of ICs to extract. At present, there is no better method available to automatically determine the optimum number of Independent Components, so we consider here all the ICs.

Using the JADE algorithm described, we have implemented a Matlab code to extract six ICs, which are shown in Figure 5. The following tables also show the correlations between the observed series and each of the six ICs. Note how the first component shows a strong positive correlation with the series 5. On the other hand, it is negatively correlated with the 1,2,3,4 and 6 time series. The plot of this IC toward the time series might help to better understand the role played by this component. From Figure 6 it can be noted that the first IC mainly represents a long run tendency of the correlated series. Second IC conclusions can be achieved in Table 4. Second IC, which is positively correlated with the all series, also represents a trend component. This is show in Figure 7. The conclusions can be arrived at by looking at the third IC in Table 5. In fact, this component, this is no negatively correlated with the any series, and positively correlated with the series all but less correlated with 5. This is clearly noted from Figure 8. Fourth IC in Table 6, this component, which is negatively correlated with the series 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and positively correlated with the series 6. This is clearly noted from Figure 9. The fifth component shows a pattern quite different from the previous. As it can be noted from Figure 10 it is characterized by the presence of a cyclical component and tends to capture a small scale variability of the series. The compo-

Table 2. Correlation global data matrix 1

2

3

4

5

6

1

1.0000

0.9799

0.9058

0.9436

0.3297

0.8894

2

0.9799

1.0000

0.9693

0.9859

0.1621

0.9544

3

0.9058

0.9693

1.0000

0.9687

-0.0255

0.9614

4

0.9436

0.9859

0.9687

1.0000

0.0314

0.9758

5

0.3297

0.1621

-0.0255

0.0314

1.0000

0.0027

6

0.8894

0.9544

0.9614

0.9758

0.0027

1.0000

392

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

nent, as it is also shown in Table 7, results negatively correlated with the fourth, sixth time series and positively correlated with the series 1, 2, 3 and 5. Finally, the sixth IC in Table 8 is negatively correlated with the all series. This is clearly noted from Figure 11.

To investigate the further effectiveness of ICA techniques in more detail for time series, we apply it to India’s CO2 emission data from the (Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres. 2009) as shown in Figure 12. The zero mean six-time series of data, between 19950 and 2006, are shown according to a lexicographic order in Figure 13.

Figure 5. Independent components (ICs) estimated using the JADE algorithm

Figure 6. Plot of the first IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

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Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Table 3. Correlation between the first IC and the six observed data Variables IC 1

1

2

3

4

5

6

-0.6973

-0.7594

-0.8047

-0.7876

0.3511

-0.6889

Table 4. Correlation between the second IC and the six observed data Variables IC 2

1

2

3

4

5

6

0.5646

0.4587

0.2515

0.4471

0.6279

0.4040

Figure 7. Plot of the second IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

Table 5. Correlation between the third IC and the six observed data Variables IC 3

1

2

3

4

5

6

0.3212

0.4229

0.5232

0.4201

0.0352

0.5958

Table 6. Correlation between the fourth IC and the six observed data Variables IC 4

394

1

2

3

4

5

6

-0.2428

-0.1546

-0.1208

-0.0189

-0.5771

0.0567

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Figure 8. Plot of the third IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

Figure 9. Plot of the fourth IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

The following Table 9 also provides the correlation among the series. As it can be seen there are some series that show some less correlations while series 4, seems to be very different from the rest of the set. Using the JADE algorithm described, we have implemented a Matlab code to extract six ICs, which are shown in Figure 14.

The following tables also show the correlations between the observed series and each of the six ICs. It can be noted that the first component shows a positive correlation with the all series. The plot of this IC toward the time series might help to better understand the role played by this component.

395

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Table 7. Correlation between the fifth IC and the six observed data Variables IC 5

1

2

3

4

5

6

0.1711

0.0892

0.0275

-0.0044

0.3804

-0.0027

Figure 10. Plot of the fifth IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

From Figure 15 it can be noted that the first IC mainly represents a long run tendency of the correlated series. Second IC conclusions can be achieved in Table 6. Second IC, which is positively correlated with the series 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and negatively correlated with the series 4. This is show in Figure 16. The third component shows a pattern quite different from the previous. As it can be noted from Figure 14 it is characterized by the presence of a cyclical component and tend to capture a

small scale variability of the series. The component, as it is also shown in Figure 17, results negatively correlated with the 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 time series and positively correlated with the series 4. Fourth IC in Table 13, this component, which is positively correlated with the all series. This is clearly noted from Figure 18. Fifth IC in Table 14, this component, which is negatively correlated with the all series. This is clearly noted from Figure 19.

Table 8. Correlation between the sixth IC and the six observed data Variables IC 6

396

1

2

3

4

5

6

-0.0594

-0.0464

-0.0099

-0.0545

-0.0587

-0.0636

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Figure 11. Plot of the sixth IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

Figure 12. India CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Burning, Cement Manufacture, and Gas Flaring 1950-2006. All emission estimates are expressed in thousands metric tons of carbon.

Table 9. Correlation India data matrix 1

2

3

4

5

6

1

1.0000

0.9936

0.9963

0.4372

0.9674

0.9777

2

0.9936

1.0000

0.9996

0.4333

0.9802

0.9769

3

0.9963

0.9996

1.0000

0.4313

0.9795

0.9798

4

0.4372

0.4333

0.4313

1.0000

0.3137

0.3538

5

0.9674

0.9802

0.9795

0.3137

1.0000

0.9586

6

0.9777

0.9769

0.9798

0.3137

0.9586

1.0000

397

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Figure 13. Normalized input signals (a) emissions from liquid fuels (b) total fossil-fuel emissions (c) emissions from solid fuels (d) emissions from gas fuels (e) emissions from cement production (f) emissions from gas flaring

Figure 14. Independent components (ICs) estimated using the JADE algorithm

Table 10. Correlation between the first IC and the six observed data Variables IC 1

398

1

2

3

4

5

6

0.6356

0.5688

0.5888

0.1227

0.5907

0.6143

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Figure 15. Plot of the first IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

Table 11. Correlation between the second IC and the six observed data Variables IC 2

1

2

3

4

5

6

0.4349

0.5175

0.4989

-0.0445

0.6284

0.4258

Figure 16. Plot of the second IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

399

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Table 12. Correlation between the third IC and the six observed data Variables IC 3

1

2

3

4

5

6

-0.3729

-0.3759

-0.3802

0.0122

-0.3570

-0.5091

Figure 17. Plot of the third IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

Table 13. Correlation between the fourth IC and the six observed data Variables IC 4

1

2

3

4

5

6

0.1318

0.1484

0.1457

0.8234

0.1027

0.1148

Figure 18. Plot of the fourth IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

400

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Table 14. Correlation between the fifth IC and the six observed data Variables IC 5

1

2

3

4

5

6

-0.3881

-0.3611

-0.3607

-0.4638

-0.2709

-0.2313

Figure 19. Plot of the fifth IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

Table 15. Correlation between the sixth IC and the six observed data Variables IC 6

1

2

3

4

5

6

0.3159

0.3390

0.3294

0.2995

0.2117

0.3398

Figure 20. Plot of the sixth IC toward the observed time series (in green the IC)

401

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

Finally, the sixth IC in Table 15 is also positively correlated with the all series. This is clearly noted from Figure 20.

CONCLUSION ICA is a very general-purpose statistical technique in which observed random data are linearly transformed into components that are maximally independent. ICA algorithm can be formulated as the estimation of a latent variable model where the intuitive notion of non-Gaussianity is exploited to estimate the components. Applications of ICA can be found in many different areas. The ICA technique has been applied in a CO2 emission estimate from fossil fuel framework with the objective of estimating the underlying independent components that reveal some driving mechanisms of a CO2 emission. In this chapter, we have calculated the performance of the JADE algorithm in BSS or semi blind problem, using independent CO2 emissions time series. For CO2 emissions time series, JADE algorithm is able to extract the independent components. These results are useful to mitigate various interference problems of CO2 emission. We have shown that the estimated ICs are able to represent the small and large scale variability of the series. ICA is designed to separate independent components for which no standardized ordering methods exist. This technique has future applications in the area of Environmental Intelligence (EI), especially as it can be embedded in the upcoming CEMS (Carbon Emissions Management Software).

Cardoso, J. F. (1997). Higher order contrasts for independent component analysis. Neural Computation, 11(1), 157–192. doi:10.1162/089976699300016863 Cardoso, J. F., & Souloumiac, A. (1993). Blind beamforming for non-gaussian signals. Proceedings of the IEEE, 140(6), 362–370. Jutten, C., & Herault, J. (1991). Blind separation of sources part I: An adaptive algorithm based on neuromimatic architecture. Signal Processing, 24(1), 1–10. doi:10.1016/0165-1684(91)90079-X Parmar, S., & Unhelkar, B. (2009). Independent Component Analysis Algorithms in Wireless Communication Systems . In Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 456–463). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Seungjin choi, A.Chichocki, S.Amari,(2000). “Flexible independent component analysis.”, Journal of VLSI Signal Processing. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers The US government’s Environment Protection Authority. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.epa. gov/climate change/emissions/ - website; accessed on 30th Oct, 2009 Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009). “Merging Web Services with 3G IP Multimedia systems for providing Solutions in Managing Environmental Compliance by Businesses.”, Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Internet Technologies and Applications (Internet Technologies and Applications, ITA 09). Wrexham, North Wales, UK – presented by B. Unhelkar

REFERENCES Boden, T. A., Marland, G., & Andres, R. J. (2009). Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A. doi 10.3334/CDIAC/00001 402

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS si: ith source signal xi: ith sensor output ni: ith noise signal s: source signal vector

Exploratory Analysis of Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions Time Series Using Independent Component Analysis

x: sensor signal vector n: noise vector y: separator output vector q: number of sources p: number of observation A: mixing matrix

W: demixing matrix ICs: Independent Components PCA: Principal Component Analysis ICA: Independent Component Analysis pdf: probability density function BSS: Blind Source Separation

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404

Chapter 29

Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges Somesh Rajain eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India Chetan Shingala Sibridge Technologies Ltd, India Ekata Mehul eInfochips Pvt. Ltd., India

ABSTRACT The large emission of Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not only affecting our ecology but also affecting human life. In schools, offices, factory and crowded railway/bus stations i.e crowded places with insufficient ventilations CO2 affects human life most. In a closed environment like school, If CO2 level starts raising above 700 parts per million (ppm) people will feel objectionable body odors and as it increase further people will feel very uncomfortable, dizzy and have headache etc. Our goal is to reduce CO2 emission and lower global warming. In Semiconductor Industry as the digital technology grows, the functionality of our electronics devices (For example: - Mobile phone, PC’s, home appliances etc) is constantly improves and mean while the demand for electronic devices to be more environment friendly is increasing. So we have to design systems with Low power consumption to curtail down green house gas emission as well as low power design are also a requirement of today’s market. The usage of mobile device in all kinds of applications is increasing day by day. These applications and corresponding devices also have their power requirements. The demand for mobile consumer device has made the power management the number one consideration in today’s system design. To increase battery life, system chip designer needs to adopt an aggressive power management technique which includes multi voltage Design Island, power gating, dynamic voltage, frequency scaling, clock gating etc in the system. Adding all these greatly complicates the verification for the chip. Normally the designer neglects the implementation of power saving techniques due to the tradeoff between power reduction and verification costs. The costs become

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Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges

more important in terms of business, which leads to more power consumption. Those details can still be implemented provided we use right kind of tools & techniques that are also combined with design experience. In this chapter the focus is to firstly describe low power design techniques, its verification challenges and its solutions followed by the case study. It also guides for the selection of programmable device & RTL Core design criteria. To make green electronics devices we have to design system with low power design techniques.

OVERVIEW To build environment friendly electronics devices low power design techniques have vast application and scope in coming era, low power designs are going to dominate not only electronics world but all product design sectors. To build digital low power systems we have to start planning at the Register transfer level (RTL) coding itself, for saving power at Register transfer level (RTL) use below mentioned techniques, you can find more details about these techniques in references section provided on last page of this chapter. • •

• •

Early Power estimation. (www.xilinx.com, www.fijutsu.com) Multi power source design technology reduces power consumption while active. (Mayo, N. & Ranganathan, P., 2005) Combinational clock gating reduces power consummation while idle. Sequential clock gating reduces power consumption while idle.

EARLY POWER ESTIMATION Early power estimation is always the preferred one because if after finishing the system design we founding that system is exceeding power budget then all money and efforts put on designing that system will be waste. That’s why always do power estimation before starting the design. Now question is how we can do early power estimation or how can we define power consumption threshold limit for a System on chip (SOC) targeted for ASIC

or FPGA? It is possible to calculate approximate power consumption number for both ASIC and FPGA targeted System on chip (SOC) designs at design architecture stage. The estimated power will help us in defining thresholds limits for power utilization by SOC. For ASIC rough estimation of gate count (Approximate digital gate count, Power requirement of analog blocks and other ready to use IP cores) and power calculation parameter provided by target technology vendor will be utilized to calculate approximate power consumption for ASIC targeted SOC. Early power estimation for FPGA is similar to ASIC but here life is bit easy and which gives us lots of choice in selection of target FPGA device, most of FPGA vendors use to provide power calculation excel sheets (For example Xilinx, we can go to www.xilinx.com and download early power estimation excel sheets free of costs) where we have to enter rough estimation of gate count numbers like in case of ASIC and select targeted FPGA device which meets basic requirements like which meets frequency and silicon size requirement of our SOC. By using early power estimation excel sheets of different vendor not only we will do approximate power estimation of our SOC but after comparing their results we can finalize a FPGA device which is also a cost effective solution for our SOC. Now the question is how early power estimation will help us in designing a low power solution? After doing early power estimation of our SOC architecture we know two very important points one how far we are from boundaries of our power budget, second our SOC architecture is a feasible solution or not in terms of cost and power requirements market is excepting. Once we know these two things and

405

Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges

found that we are in a range of 5-8% away from market needs then we can move towards micro architecture of design because in this range after doing a good logic design optimization and after applying clock gating we can meet our power budget. In case our estimated power is 5-8% above market needs then it’s always better to go back and change your SOC design architecture.

Multi Power Source Design Multi power source design (Minas, L. & Ellison, B., 2009) is a design in which source supplies different level of voltages to each circuit of an IC (Integrated Circuit), it is also called as “multiVth” designing technique. This technique reduces power during active times by supplying a lowvoltage to a circuit that runs at low frequency and supplying a higher voltage to a circuit that runs at higher frequency. Due to this power consumption will reduce when circuit is in idle state. (Pasricha, et.al., 2003).

Combinational Clock Gating (Dale, 2008) Combinational clock gating reduces power by disabling the clock input to flip-flops/registers when the flops data output is not changing. Clock-gating logic is used when RTL code have conditions like Figure 1. Combinational clock-gating conversion

406

“if (condition) out <= in” In this condition direct conversion of RTL to gated clock logic takes place to reduce power consummation and to be a more environment friendly device (Green device). Combinational clock gating is now a feature in the RTL compiler by Cadence and Design compiler by Synopsis. These power aware synthesis tools recognize conditions for applying combinational clock gating and do the conversion of design RTL to a RTL with clock gated logic. Due to clock gated logic verification may become a nightmare for verification team to avoid verification hiccups due to clock gating market already come up with various equivalence checking tools which can handle clock gated RTL. Combinational clock gate can reduce significant amount power consumption (5 to 10%), still everything depends upon kind of design Architecture and tool used for optimization.

Sequential Clock Gating (Dale, 2008) The power of Sequential clock gating depends upon identifying unused computations, data dependent functions and don’t-care cycles. Sequential clock gating is tough job with a multiple clock cycle analysis and optimization with lots of RTL modifications at micro architecture level without affecting the required functionality. Like combinational clock gated RTL verification of sequential clock gated RTL is challenging, here also we can use equivalence checking tools to make life easy for verification team. Sequential clock gating is found in state machines and pipeline stages, In state machines and pipe lines states we have to identify unused states and don’t care states, this information can not be generated by any tool because these information are function specific and only RTL designer can identify them after analyzing 2-3 backward as well as forward stages of RTL code(digital logic). Once designer Identifies the scope for clock gat-

Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges

ing that particular state will be disabled in those states when its output is unused and will be enabled in those states when it has to be involved in the design flow. After this optimization the difficulty is verification of design, which can also be accomplished by formal verification/Equivalence checking tools. In sequential clock gating we have to be very careful in identifying right unused/ don’t care state.

Basic Low Power Green System Designs Figure 4 shows the picture of the block level system for streaming of video data transfer application, this system is used for analyzing effect of clock gating on CO2 emission by low power design techniques. The figure 4 block level system design is targeted for FPGA SOC without any LOW power design technique in mind because our first goal is to do system validation after approximate power analysis at system architecture stage where

Figure 2. Sequential clock-gating conversion

Figure 3. Disabling unused/don’t care states when the output is not used

407

Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges

Figure 4. Streaming video data transfer application block level architecture

we found that we are 8% away from our power budget, once all the features are validated on FPGA we can modify present RTL with low power design techniques. The aim of design validation is to a do proof of concept before applying low power design techniques and putting efforts in doing so. Design validation before applying low power techniques will reduce design complexity and let us do better logic optimization. We are using figure 4 design as a case study for low power design techniques, which during power analysis of our design case when RTL coded without clock gating as mentioned above we found SOC RTL is violating power constraints.

FPGA SOC Features The block diagram (Figure 4) shows Functional Block diagram of FPGA based SOC for 6 highspeed video data transfer application. We architected this design and done RTL coding for the same. We applied clock gating techniques on below mentioned design as explained in previous pages to reduce power consumption or CO2 emission.

408

The major blocks in the design of FPGA based SOC are as follows. 1. Video Buffer with Frame Controller and color converter The basic task of this module is to buffer the data and conversion of one color. It has 8KBytes of Block RAM storage which can store about 4 lines of data for 1024 x 768 resolutions. Streaming Video input is provided to this module which stores the data in asynchronous FIFO (FPGA block RAM in this case) at video clock rate. The buffering requirement is set according the data rates available at the video interface and at the DMA interface. With the storage capacity of about 8192 bytes (4 lines of data), there is almost no back pressure on the video interface section. The interface possesses Hsync, Vsync, video data and video clock as per ITU-R BT.656-4 specifications. Color converter is used to convert one color formate to another color format. This module also provides the pixel count and line count to the DMA Controller in terms of pix-

Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges

els per line and lines per frame. Frame Controller can work in normal as well as Embedded Hsync/ Vsync mode as per ITU-T BT.656-4 specifications. 2. Dual Channel DMA Controller with image scalar The Dual Channel DMA Controller is the key module for optimizing data transfer performance. It has 2 channels – Channel 0 and Channel 1. Channel 0 is default activated channel and starts after one-line buffer of video data in the Video Buffer and Frame Controller module. It is used to transfer line by line data from the Video Buffer and Frame Controller module to SDRAM Controller. This channel can be halted through the configuration register under the control of host microcontroller. To ensure higher speed data rate availability, the DMA Controller operates as follows. Channel 1 is activated by the host microcontroller. The host can start the SDRAM to USB data transfer looking at the number of lines written in the SDRAM. Channel 0 transfer is halted before starting the operation through Channel 1. Checking the status of lines written does this – DMA Controller module has a register that track the lines written in to the SDRAM. Due to single data path between the SDRAM and DMA, this operation has to be judiciously done to achieve optimum performance. The DMA module is generic and accepts the pixels per line and lines per frame information from the Video and Frame controller module. This is a major as against the conventional DMA controllers wherein the DMA has to be configured by the host processor for amount of data transfer required. Dual channel mechanism and its effective utilization by the host microcontroller are the prime factors leading to higher data transfer rates. Also due to pixel and line count data available, it frees the controller from configuration of count details.

3. SDRAM Controller SDRAM Controller module enables data transfer between DMA Controller channels and SDRAM memory chip. The controller possesses logic for implementation of SDRAM Read & Write protocol and supports incremental, burst and interleaved-burst modes. 4. USB Interface Controller USB Interface Controller forms an interface conversion between custom interface of DMA and the USB controller chip external to the FPGA. It is also used to program the external chip through microcontroller via host interface. 5. SPI Controller SPI bus is required to program the image processor chip via the microcontroller. The module can work as a master or slave as configured in configuration registers by control words. Also it has a facility to read or write a burst data of 256 bytes, by using FIFO in the module. 6. Host Interface (PCI Interface) The module interfaces with the microcontroller outside the FPGA. The module has the register bank for configuration of modules and decodes the addresses as per defined register map. The other functions include reflection of status, configuration of commands and interrupt control.

CONCLUSION: AFTER APPLYING CLOCK GATING ON ABOVE SOC DESIGN RTL clock gating is a common technique for reducing dynamic power when design is active and Multi voltage implementation for reducing idle

409

Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges

time power consumption. Power consumption is directly related to CO2 emission if we can cut down total power consumption of a device then we are simultaneously reducing CO2 emission, above explained techniques and design example is path which if followed can reduce CO2 emission significantly. We know today there are no automated tools to identify or make sequential RTL clock-gating optimizations. Such optimizations require experienced engineers who know when and how to apply the appropriate sequential changes by identifying don’t care and unused states. Since this is a manual transformation/conversion of RTL which increases design complexity and verification criticality. But reduction in design complexity and criticality of verification is not our goal; our goal is to make our devices more environments friendly and to cut down on CO2 emission which is achieved to an extent by reducing over all power consumption. (Yeap, G., 1998)

REFERENCES Dale, M. (n.d.). “The power of RTL clock gating. Chip Design. Retrieved from http://chipdesignmag.com/displa y.php?articleId=915 ” by Mitch Dale. Fujitsu. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.fujitsu.com Maxfield, C. (2010). Advance power aware debug solution simplifies low power chip verification. Tech bites.com. Retrieved from http://www. techbites.com/201002082003/myblog/ blog/ z000c-advanced-power-aware-debug-solutionsimplifies-low-power-chip-verification.html Mayo, N., & Ranganathan, P. (2005). Energy Consumption in Mobile Devices: Why Future Systems Need Requirements-Aware Energy ScaleDown. In Falsafi, B., & Vijaykumar, T. (Eds.), Power Aware Computer Systems (pp. 26–40). Berlin, Germany: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3540-28641-7_3

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Minas, L., & Ellison, B. (2009). Energy Efficiency for Information Technology: How to reduce power consumption in Servers and Data Center. New York: Intel Press. Pasricha, S., Mohapatra, S., Luthra, M., Dutt, N. & Venkatasubramanian, N. (Oct. 2003). Reducing Backlight Power Consumption for Streaming Video Applications on Mobile Handheld Devices. Presented at Embedded Systems for Real-Time Multimedia (ESTIMedia 2003), Newport Beach, CA. Pering, T., Agrawal, Y., Gupta, R. and & Want, R. (June 2006). CoolSpots: Reducing the Power Consumption of Wireless Mobile Devices with Multiple Radio Interfaces. Presented at MobiSys’06, Uppsala, Sweden (pp. 220-232). Power optimization solutions by Calypto.Calypto. (2010). Power optimization soluations. Retrieved from http://www.calypto.com/ Roberts, L. (2009). A Radical New Router. IEEE Spectrum, (July): 30–35. Samsung Corporation. (2009). Sprint Expands Environmental Leadership with New Initiatives and Debut of Eco-Friendly Samsung Reclaim. Samsung News Releases. Retrieved 24th November, 2009, from http://www.samsung.com/us/business/ semico nductor/newsView.do?news_id=1035 Sawyer, R. (2004). Calculating Total Power Requirements for Data Centers. American Power Conversion - White Paper. Toh, C. (2002). Ad-Hoc Mobile Wireless Networks: Protocols and Systems. Delhi, India: Pearson Education. Xilinx. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.xilinx.com Yeap, G. (1998). Practical Low Power Digital VLSI Design. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges

Zhai, B., Blaauw, D., Sylvester, D., & Flautner, K. (2004). Theoretical and Practical Limits of Dynamic Voltage Scaling. Proceedings of the 41st Annual Design Automation Conference, San Diego, CA.

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Section 3

Applications

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Chapter 30

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS): A New Global Industry Graeme Philipson Connection Research, Australia Pete Foster Springboard Research, Australia John Brand The Green IT Review, Australia

ABSTRACT Carbon Emission Management Software (CEMS) is a new category of software that helps organizations manage and report on their carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These measurements are now becoming a legal requirements for many organizations in many countries. The Kyoto Protocol was the first real international attempt to formalize the measurement, monitoring and mitigation of GHG emissions. The recent Copenhagen summit was an attempt to take the agreement further. Many countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and most of Western Europe, now have legislation based on the GHG Protocol which mandates the reporting of carbon emissions. CEMS products have been developed largely in response to these legally binding requirements.This chapter looks at the evolution of CEMS, and how and why the products are used. It provides a CEMS taxonomy and looks at the main selection and implementation issues.

INTRODUCTION Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS) is a very new category of software. Since around 2005 sensitivity to carbon-emission levels and the need to control them has increased significantly,

which has led to an increased awareness of the need to measure carbon emission levels. Today, such measurement is not only seen as desirable, it is in many cases becoming mandatory. Public and corporate understanding of climate change and of the effects of greenhouse gases (GHGs) on the atmosphere has increased signifi-

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Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

cantly in recent years. Once regarded as the domain of fringe greenies, the issues relating to GHGs in business are now mainstream. The Kyoto Protocol, developed by the United Nations Frame work Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC, 2010) was the first real international attempt to formalize the measurement, monitoring and mitigation of GHG emissions, dates from 1997, but it is only in the last few years that most governments have started to act and that individuals and organizations have begun to realize the extent to which they are affected. The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 (UNFCC, 2010) has further raised public, political and corporate awareness. There remains a body of opinion which believes that climate change is not occurring, or that if it is, it is not caused by human activity. Even if those views are correct, they do not alter the fact that governments around the world are introducing various legislative mechanisms to reduce the production of GHGs and to mandate the reporting of GHG emissions (Philipson, Foster and Brand, 2010). A precondition of reporting is measurement, and a precondition of measurement is some sort of tool by which to conduct that measurement. Hence the development of CEMS. Carbon emissions legislation is typically based on national targets for reductions by 2020 and 2050. The later date is the ultimate aim, but will be impossible to reach unless an interim reduction is achieved. The means to address those targets will vary between countries, and in setting those targets countries will have to address other issues such as the use of renewable energy, the extent to which biofuels will or can be used, whether offsets will be allowed in order to achieve targets, and how carbon trading will be managed, nationally and internationally. In most countries legislation addresses the larger emitters first – primarily energy companies and heavy industry – but will also address increasing proportions of the commercial sector

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over time, to meet the ultimate targets. This is already happening in many countries. In addition to legislation, there are also pressures from the business world.

PRESSURES AND RISKS IN THE BUSINESS WORLD While many countries have been moving slowly along the road to international agreement, at the corporate level there is increasing responsibility, as highlighted by many discussions (e.g. Murugesan, 2007). The pressure on business to take unilateral action has grown significantly. An increasingly active environmental movement, extreme weather events, and international conferences and agreements have all helped bring the issue of climate change to a broader section of the general public and to the attention of corporate stakeholders. At the same time, economic factors have added another dimension by putting the spotlight on the cost of the energy responsible for generating greenhouse gases (Unhelkar and Dickens, 2008). As a result, there is increasing pressure on corporations from a number of areas: Clearly, there is growing pressure from a variety of directions for organizations to assess their carbon emissions, report them publicly and set targets for their reduction. Those looking to address pressures and stakeholder expectations should prepare a formal assessment of the risks and opportunities of climate change, what needs to be achieved and how to get there. Since environmental issues can have an impact across an organization, it requires a fairly broad assessment to encompass knock-on impacts that combine, as discussed by Unhelkar and Trivedi (2009), both technology and business perspectives. Note that the assessment is not just about the risks of not doing anything, but also the market opportunities of taking positive action.

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

Legal Risks As and when national legislation is implemented there will be no choice but for many organizations to comply. There will, in many cases, be significant penalties for non-compliance. This is a powerful reason for tracking carbon emissions as soon as possible. Only with sufficient data available will many organizations have advance warning of which climate change laws will affect their business and markets and what actions they will need to take. Indeed, only with a comprehensive system of tracking and managing emissions, with the ability to test the impact of changes, can companies fully mitigate the various business risks that climate change represents. As well as legislation, litigation may also be a threat to those who have not fully evaluated the risks and opportunities. In the USA there have already been instances where shareholders have demanded that companies reveal the risks they face from climate change (although there have also been occasions when shareholders have asked companies to justify investment in the activities associated with alleviating the impact of climate change).

Reputational Risks Environmental organizations are becoming increasingly active in identifying environmentally shoddy products and badly performing companies, and gaining significant publicity for their findings. Sustainability factors are also starting to be integrated into product selection listings and league tables. Legislation is even being linked to published assessments of performance, as is the case with the Carbon Reduction Commitment in the UK. All this can have a direct impact on a company’s reputation. At the same time, increasing amounts of corporate environmental information are becoming available on the web, for example the Carbon Disclosure Project survey results are freely avail-

able to consumers and investors. The need to make information available, and the control and interpretation of that information, has resulted in the rapid growth of annual CSR (Corporate and Social Responsibility) reports in recent years.

Operational Risks Operational risks come primarily from a ‘headin-the-sand’ attitude. For example, ignoring the views of staff could well affect morale and staff retention. However, there are much broader issues when considering long-term risks from failure to act on climate change and its consequences. Climate change will bring extreme weather impacts, including water shortages, wildfires, floods, typhoons and rising sea levels. Where there is potential direct impact of such climate events there is a need to consider reinforcing buildings, moving data centers, etc. There are other even more important effects. Examples include power shortages and blackouts, telecoms failures, medical epidemics leading to resource shortages, inability to get to work or travel on business, and the impact these might have on suppliers, distributors and resellers. It may not just be one event but a combination of events up and down the supply chain. They may be long-term considerations, but these are essential aspects of future business planning.

Financial Risks The risks mentioned above all have potential financial consequences. For example, reputational risks are directly linked to the financial impact in retail organizations if customers stop coming through the door. But there are also significant effects further down the supply chain as companies pass on environmental obligations to suppliers, as Wal-Mart is already doing in the USA. This is also true in the business-to-business sector as large corporations focus on establishing their

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environmental credentials with their customers and their business partners. There are clear financial implications if climate change results in operational failure and undermines a company’s ability to deliver products and services. There are also more indirect financial risks if failure to become more environmentally friendly results in a lack of enthusiasm from shareholders and institutional investors and starves companies of financial support.

Lost Opportunities Planning for climate change should also encompass a consideration of new market opportunities (particularly if current products are likely to disappear, e.g. gas-guzzling cars and incandescent light bulbs). A new green economy is emerging offering a range of products and services aimed at reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. These include renewable energy generation and distribution, technology to help existing energy use go further and a wide range of products that are less energy-reliant in manufacture and use. Information technology will be one business sector to benefit, because it has a central role in helping companies become more energy efficient, including more automated facilities management, improved data center efficiency, and more sophisticated logistics/transport solutions, etc. It is not an exaggeration to say that IT is central to the greening of the corporation. It enables the repository, the measurement tool, and the reporting tool. The CEMS software market is a very good example of an opportunity for IT companies.

THE GREENHOUSE GAS PROTOCOL The Greenhouse Gas Protocol initiative was launched in 1998 with the mission of developing internationally accepted greenhouse gas accounting and reporting standards (Greenhouse Gas

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Protocol, 2010). It was formed by a number of NGOs (non-government organizations), government agencies and others, drawn together by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a US-based environmental NGO, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a Geneva-based coalition of 200 international companies. The Protocol provides guidance as to what aspects of an organization and its operations should be included and how. For example, two approaches to consolidating emissions are suggested– the equity share approach, where emissions are accounted according to the equity share in the operation, and the control approach, where a company accounts for 100% of the emissions from operations over which it has control. This can be a complex issue, not so much because of accounting, but for the subsequent reporting requirements. There may be several authorities to which reports need to be made, raising issues of consolidation and double counting. At the heart of the GHG Protocol is the definition of three areas of accounting and reporting of emissions: Scopes 1, 2 and 3. •

•

Scope 1. emissions are those caused by the direct emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from sources owned or controlled by the organization. These typically include the direct generation of electricity or other forms of energy, physical or chemical processing (e.g. the manufacture of cement or aluminum) and transportation of materials or people in company-owned vehicles. Scope 2. emissions are those caused indirectly through the use of energy which causes GHG emissions in its generation. By far the most common Scope 2 emission is from electricity purchased from the power grid or otherwise brought into the company. Scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility where electricity is

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

•

generated. For many companies, purchased electricity represents the largest sources of GHG emissions and the most significant opportunity to reduce them. Scope 3. covers other indirect emissions and is generally an optional reporting category. Emissions are those caused by the organization’s suppliers, e.g. the embedded carbon used in the manufacture of products it buys or services it uses. These include business air travel, emissions from leased premises, outsourced activities, waste disposal, the use of outside products and services, etc. Exactly what is included in Scope 3 may depend on the equity or control approaches mentioned above. Their accurate measurement can be very difficult because of the dangers of double counting.

For any company preparing to assess and report its carbon emissions, the GHG protocol is certainly the best starting point and has become the basis for Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS) products. Where needed, the data can be quickly adapted to local requirements, particularly for reporting purposes, with its functionality and terminology easily adaptable to most measurement and reporting situations.

MEASURING GHG EMISSIONS Apart from any current legislative requirements to assess and report on (and ultimately reduce) their carbon emissions, organizations also need to determine the future impact of carbon emissions on their bottom line. These effects may be interms of new regulations or increasingly stringent legislative requirements. As legislation either limits carbon emissions are makes them more expensive, organizations will need to continuously develop strategies and plans for how they might handle GHG emissions and other waste products in the

normal course of doing business (Unhelkar and Philipson, 2009). Not all companies need to go straight to an in-depth carbon emissions assessment, though, and many may never need to. The first stage is to understand the immediate requirement and how that can best be fulfilled: •

•

•

Do you need to report emissions? Is there any current (or imminent) legislation that requires you to report emissions, or are there significant external pressures to do so? It may be that your organization will want to be prepared before such pressure becomes apparent, or you may want to set a benchmark for future emissions reductions for CSR or other reasons. These various motivations for wanting to assess carbon emissions will give a good indication of the detail required and hence how it can best be done. For organizations that are not obliged to report emissions and have straightforward energy use, e.g. primarily scope 2, a rough spreadsheet-based calculation may be all that is required. This will often be the case where the aim is simply to get some measure of scale of CO2 emissions and to understand whether you may need to conform to coming legislation. Online calculators are helpful in making these initial assessments, because they can often run a check through many sources of emissions as well as providing some automated conversion from energy use to carbon emissions. There are a number of these online calculators for both consumer and business use, usually tuned to particular country’s requirements and using local energy/emissions conversion factors. There are too many to list here, and they change very quickly, but a quick Internet search will find dozens of them.

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Whilst the above solutions may be adequate for many, at least in the short term, they are limited in their use. More complex organizations or those facing legal requirements to report emissions need to consider whether they do it themselves or use a more in-depth measuring tool. We look below at some of the factors in this decision. There are a number of ways to make an assessment of power consumption as the basis of emissions calculations (Unhelkar and Philipson, 2009): •

• •

•

• •

A simple analysis of the power bill remains the most straightforward method, at least for electricity use. Fuel consumption ‘guesstimates’, based on industry norms or comparable benchmarks. Smart meters provide an added granularity to standard bills, providing more accurate and immediate data for specific parts of an organization. These are becoming more popular and are also often capable of providing direct input into CEMS solutions. Look up tables/inventory matching to extrapolate known data for equipment and facilities to other parts of the organization. Algorithmic assessments based on features and dimensions of equipment and facilities. Compound analysis (based on any or all of the above).

The basic measurement of greenhouse gas emissions might seem to be a straightforward exercise, but it can quickly become complex: •

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Measuring CO2 requires only that the amount of fuel or energy used be converted into an estimate, based on agreed conversion rates, of the emissions they produce. But the factors that translate fossil fuel energy into CO2 measures vary by type of fuel and source and there can be six gases (or more) to take into consideration. Add to that the often gray areas around organiza-

•

•

•

tional and operational boundaries, such as responsibility for outsourced services, and it can quickly become a complex process. Total emissions are expressed as CO2e, or CO2 equivalent – other GHG emissions need to be converted to their equivalent in CO2 and reported as one combined figure. All organizations and governments that require the reporting of emissions have defined or adopted a methodology for how CO2e should be calculated. The most prominent, influential and widely used of these methodologies is the GHG Protocol (see above), but there are inevitable differences in local methodologies and multiple reporting requirements. Data will need to be reported in a variety of forms to comply with specific climate change legislation, in annual reports or to conform with voluntary reporting to various organizations. Each of these will most likely differ in every country in which a company operates. The differences in data required may be minimal, but the method of reporting can vary significantly. Emissions calculating requirements are still evolving. For example there are increasing calls for companies to include the emissions from all or part of their supply chain, although it is a complex issue if double counting is to be avoided. Similarly, there are calls for the assessment of embedded carbon in product manufacture (see below). There will undoubtedly be changes to carbon reporting over time.

MANAGING THE DATA Most organizations will want (and need) to do more than just measure and report emissions. It will become important to use the data that emerges to manage energy use and emissions across the whole organization. The more information is

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

available, the quicker and better an organization can adapt to changing legislation, energy costs, market conditions, supply chain structures, transport charges and a variety of other factors that actions against GHG emissions (and the impact of climate change itself) will bring to business. In order to do this, the carbon management function will need to provide: •

• •

•

• •

Easily read and understood management reporting, since it will affect board level decisions. Monitoring and flagging of progress against emissions reductions targets. More detailed analysis, e.g. by facility. As is always the case with management information, more detailed breakdowns of data will be required over time. Data manipulation for ‘what-ifs’ and scenario planning. Management will want to test alternatives in looking for ways to reduce emissions with the minimum impact. Integration with finance systems as carbon emissions acquire a cost. Feeds into carbon trading and offset planning systems to help deliver targets and determine forecast of future emissions

A spreadsheet simply does not have the capabilities and usability to fulfill all these requirements (see below). This is where Carbon Emissions Management Software comes in. Though there are many different ways to capture, store, organize, view and extract GHG emissions data, people in specific roles (e.g., those assigned to manage carbon reporting, reduction and trading schemes) often prefer a specific user interface to an application that suits their unique or personal needs. Most of the data that business users need to access regarding GHG emissions is usually available from other systems within the organization. Users will typically take extracts of data from various enterprise systems and import that into the

specific tools and applications provided by CEMS vendors or their own spreadsheets and databases. This may reduce the effort for individuals, but may also ultimately increase the overall effort for the organization. It may also have a negative effect on the accuracy and reliability of the data collected. For example, transactions that are not synchronized to the end of quarter (or other defined period) may mislead the organization about its obligations or opportunities in relation to reducing carbon emissions. While real time integration of GHG emissions data is rarely required, the risks associated with manual data feeds (e.g., copying and pasting or extracting, transformation and importing) are usually too high to be acceptable to key executives.

THE PROBLEMS WITH SPREADSHEETS For many companies, the first attempt at assessing emissions most often starts with a spreadsheet. These can be an effective means of recording information if most emissions are Scope 2, i.e. in the form of electricity, where usage information is usually easily available. However, the process can quickly escalate out of control. Calculating emissions requires applying a conversion factor to each fuel type to get the equivalent emissions figure. For example, the conversion tables supplied by Defra in the UK (DEFRA, 2010) provide 20 fuel types split by three greenhouse gases (each with a different conversion factor) to come up with a CO2e figure. In addition there are separate conversion tables for process emissions, passenger transport fuel, freight transport fuel, refrigeration and more. In the case of electricity, conversion factors depend on how the energy was manufactured, whether through coal, natural gas, nuclear, etc. In the UK Defra provides one figure for the whole country (which changes annually) plus conversion figures for electricity generated in other countries.

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In Australia, conversion factors vary by state, provider or even power plant and that degree of granularity is likely to be increasingly demanded in the future (Philipson et al, 2010). The state of Victoria, for example, uses a lot of brown coal for electricity generation, which emits much more CO2 than the black coal used for power generation in most of the rest of Australia. Power from black coal is, in turn, much dirtier than hydroelectric or nuclear power. Clearly, just recording the energy in and emissions out is a challenging process using only a spreadsheet, particularly for an international company of any size. But it is in making use of the data that this solution really falls down. Spreadsheets do not have the planning capabilities, in terms of ‘what-if’ scenario testing, that give added value to the assessment. Nor are they a very good reporting tool. Most people will need a Carbon Emissions Management Software tool.

THE EMERGING CEMS MARKET Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS) products are software applications designed to provide a compliant and consistent format for presenting GHG emission data to executive management and regulators. This is a fast-growing field, with over 100 CEMS products now on the market from 60 or more vendors (Cemsus, 2010). At a minimum, CEMS can be described as a specific application designed to measure, report and sometimes manage the carbon emissions of an organization using a consistent, defensible and repeatable methodology. The benefits are in providing a systematic and standardized approach for collecting and reporting emissions data and managing the organization’s emissions. CEMS solutions increasingly go beyond this minimum functionality to provide additional capabilities such as carbon planning and management, carbon trading, and the management of carbon emissions mitigation.

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A significant added advantage of using CEMS is that as the regulatory and trading framework continues to evolve, vendors will be required to update their software to comply with the most recent changes. In addition, in order to remain competitive and to grow their businesses, we believe that CEMS vendors will eventually include similar functionality for managing other waste products besides CO2 that may be produced in the course of doing business. It is likely that most organizations will eventually use a CEMS product, often after experimenting with and discarding a home-grown approach (Philipson et al, 2010). Many of the commercial CEMS tools grew out of other applications, or began their life as in-house or consultant spreadsheets. As the market matures, we believe that organizations will prefer to procure integrated commercial (or in some limited cases, open source) CEMS products. Already CEMS is critical for large organizations because of the complexity of the task: •

•

•

International operations means a multiplication of the complexity of calculating emissions, with different energy conversion factors for each country. It also raises the potential of varying calculating methodologies to suit various national and international legislative regimes. As well as the legal reporting requirements, large organizations are also more likely to comply with voluntary reporting through CSR reports, industry groups, etc. The more complex the organization, the more complicated will be carbon reduction planning, which is increasingly becoming a feature of the more advanced CEMS products. Global companies will be faced with choices as to where to locate their operations, and local emissions legislation will be a factor. Planning will become increasingly essential.

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

Utilizing CEMS software will also reduce the requirement for costly specialist consulting or subject matter expertise. It will also provide greater consistency, visibility and defensibility of measurement and reporting programs. In the longer term it will also be likely to assist in developing appropriate mitigation strategies. Due to the complexities of measurement, the legislative requirements of long term monitoring, the evolution towards emissions trading and consolidation of enterprise software infrastructure licensing, CEMS will continue to evolve but will increasingly become integrated with traditional ERP systems. The market will continue to mature and will consolidate around major technology vendors and a group of niche or vertical industry players. As a result of these continued market changes, organizations will very likely have to consider data migration, cleansing and validation over the next decade. In the meantime, CEMS will continue to grow as a software market. It will encompass both onpremises, integrated systems and online hosted applications. CEMS vendors will continue to address a range of measurement, monitoring and mitigation requirements from internal IT departments to global, cross industry supply chains, and will evolve their products accordingly.

THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF CEMS It is no surprise that software solutions have emerged to assist in the process of gathering and managing GHG emissions. These solutions have appeared from various different sectors, initially with different focuses: •

Occupational health and safety (OH&S) compliance. Much of the concern around carbon emissions initially fell under the auspices of health and safety. Consequently, solutions have emerged from suppliers fo-

•

•

•

•

cused on this sector, such as Enviance and ESS. Health and safety is increasingly subsumed within CSR, and some solutions reflect this broader remit, for instance from French company Enablon (www.enablon. com) Carbon trading. Many companies that have developed platforms for carbon trading, such as Tradeslot, have also developed solutions for monitoring and managing emissions. Business intelligence/analytics software. Companies such as SAS and SPSS (now owned by IBM) offer the ability to extract and analyze relevant data for carbon management. Accounting and ERP software. Providers such As Oracle and SAP are increasingly adding functionality and modules to existing solutions to encompass the recording of energy use and emissions data (and the associated costs). Some are being developed internally, some are acquired. ‘Pure-play’ CEMS companies. These are generally recent start-up companies, backed by private investors or venture capitalists who are looking to provide dedicated, company-wide solutions.

This is still a very young market. We believe it will grow rapidly and become increasingly competitive as suppliers jockey for market positions as demand soars. There will be a significant amount of investment, both through venture capital to build new companies, and through acquisitions as established players buy start-ups to shorten the development cycle. The 2009 acquisition by SAP of Clear Standards, a privately-owned CEMS software provider formed in 2007, is a sign of things to come. Most specialist CEMS software emerged from companies that were formed to address the need for comprehensive, company-wide solutions appropriate for international organizations. These

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initial requirements were often based on voluntary compliance, whereas compliance is now becoming mandatory, with legislation being introduced with penalties for inadequate reporting. Not only has the requirement become more demanding, but the need to go beyond accounting to manage emissions has become an essential part of the solution. As monitoring and planning become more important, the challenge for CEMS solutions is in having access to a range of up-to-date information, including emissions conversions factors (which vary around the world), country regulation and reporting standards, carbon pricing and offset opportunities. The ideal answer is to use an online solution and rely on the supplier to provide the up-to-the-minute data. Using a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution eliminates the need for detailed in-house expertise and makes installing and running CEMS much more straightforward. It also provides greater certainty is cost, through the pay-as-you-go model, a particular benefit in an economic slowdown. As a consequence, most of the CEMS solutions on the market are offered as online services.

CEMS MARKET OVERVIEW A full list of all CEMS products and their suppliers and characteristics is contained on Envirability’s CEMS portal: www.cemsus.com. CEMS software vendors come from a variety of backgrounds – enterprise resource planning, business intelligence/analytics and traditional independent software vendors who have a niche interest in the environment or existing intellectual property which can be applied to managing GHG emissions data. The majority of companies behind many of the CEMS products remain privately held. Despite the increasing number of vendors (there are over 60 vendors identified today, with over 100 products, and the number is expected to continue to rise for the next 2-3 years), it is likely that the majority of these companies will

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eventually be acquired or succumb to natural attrition as a result of competitive market forces (Philipson et al, 2010). CEMS software is characterized by the breadth and depth of functionality covered. Envirability has identified a range of different CEMS solutions that are applicable to different types of business problems and size/types of organizations. At the very low end of the scale are software packages that come with low cost, household measurement and monitoring devices, typically designed to capture and report on household energy consumption. These devices typically clip around an incoming mains electrical line or plug into mains power outlets with power consuming devices piggybacked into the measuring device. The purpose is to provide a measure of energy being consumed by typical households and household appliances. Although simple and low cost, many of these devices now include relatively powerful software that can monitor, tabulate and chart on household power consumption. Some software is able to convert energy consumption figures into reasonably accurate carbon emission measures. Commercial versions of these devices or other meters are often used in various departments or business units within large organizations or campuses. Even though the scale of what is being measured is considerably greater than typical household power consumption, the basic technique is very similar. These energy monitors are still a common way for organizations to measure their GHG emissions, at least for electrical related energy consumption. For other energy sources and fuels, organizations still typically look at their consumption (e.g. fleet management billing) to determine their likely GHG emissions. While this is not an entirely accurate method, it is generally agreed to be accurate enough to ensure that the processes of measurement, monitoring and reporting does not place an inappropriate burden on organizations with administrative overhead. The variance

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

in accuracy can come from different generation methods. Some products are specifically designed to monitor usage only within certain business units or departments (such as manufacturing plants or data centers). The CEMS market referred to in this report applies primarily to the entire enterprise. This may include head office and numerous global remote locations. In these instances, measuring GHG emissions can be complex and costly. As with any emerging software market, vendors build and market their products to try and differentiate themselves. This provides a wide variety of applications that spans from basic measurement and reporting, right through to complex trading algorithms and platforms. The applications generally focus on one or more areas of the business such as finance and accounting, governance and compliance, legal, social responsibility and/or marketing. Many organizations implement CEMS packages within only certain areas of the business or target their deployment at specific business units within the enterprise (such as the data center, manufacturing plants etc). Despite the benefits of using CEMS software to improve the efficiency of meeting compliance requirements for reducing GHG emissions, the future of CEMS software as a separate software class is not assured. But in the short-to-medium term, CEMS software will be a popular choice for larger organizations. The main driver of the CEMS market in the coming years will be the introduction of national legislation in many jurisdictions around the world. Of particular importance is the possible introduction of national legislation in the USA in 2010, which will give a considerable impetus to what will be the largest national market for CEMS products. Much will depend on how legislation is introduced, particularly the extent to which companies are drawn in over time. It is likely that virtually any company of any size will be obliged, by law, stakeholder pressure or accepted financial practice,

to report emissions within the next five years or so. Smaller operations active in one market and with straightforward energy usage may be able to add a module to their accounting solution to conform to requirements, but it will not be sufficient for most. One inevitable need will be to increase integration with existing solutions, particularly around finance/ERP software from the likes of SAP and Oracle. In addition, for complete carbon management the solution needs to integrate with carbon price feeds, trading platforms, offset solutions, etc. Some of this is built into existing solutions, but inevitably new requirements will emerge and links will be needed. The increasing legislative and reporting complexity, particularly for international companies, will make the need for planning essential. In a global market the ability to test out alternative scenarios in terms of reducing or moving emissions sources will become an essential requirement. This is likely to become an increasing focus of functionality over time and where business intelligence and analytics will become important. CEMS is still a very immature market, with users experimenting with the software capabilities. It is likely that functionality will evolve for several years as suppliers respond to both new demands from users and legislative and other carbon market requirements. Certainly, large international organizations which will need to account for complex energy usage under multiple legislative regimes, will drive the market. That, together with the huge market opportunity, is one of the reasons why there will inevitably be a rapid expansion in products followed by a market consolidation. Large software companies will look to the pure-play start-ups for the expertise and solutions, rather than reinvent the wheel. Indeed, much investment in new CEMS companies is likely to be with a relatively short-term exit strategy in mind. The products may survive, but not the companies.

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CEMS is suited to being provided through the emerging software as a service (SaaS) model, because it is an application where functionality will develop rapidly, where continually updated information is required but which does not need to be continuously and widely available on an in-house platform. Accessing CEMS online has many of the advantages and few of the drawbacks of SaaS. Over the next few years it is likely that CEMS will become part of larger enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. It is probable that what starts out as separate emissions-counting modules at additional cost will increasingly be incorporated within core ERP systems. This is an on-going trend when new functionality becomes a must-have. It will inevitably undermine product value at the low end of the CEMS market, but is unlikely to affect the greater functionality of dedicated CEMS solutions. A few specialist CEMS providers with comprehensive solutions will survive, along with a number of niche solutions targeted at optimizing various parts of the carbon supply chain. This will include simulation, modeling and trading. Those companies that continue to offer dedicated CEMS solutions are likely to expand the capabilities into other areas such as water and waste management. CEMS products are available on a range of platforms. However, platform support is becoming less relevant as part of the selection criteria for organizations as many of the CEMS products available are provided as hosted, SaaS or managed service solutions.

CEMS FUNCTIONAL FOCUS The functional focus of CEMS solutions refers to different areas of capabilities the products have. That is, some software packages are better at measurement and reporting but provide little to no value in simulation, modeling or trading. It is worth noting that many product vendors claim

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to have expertise in all areas of GHG emissions. However, even these vendors typically have a prime area of focus, even though they may still have some functionality that addresses other areas. The following chart provides a graphical map of the various functional focus areas across the scope of applications and highlights where the current emphasis is for CEMS. As the CEMS software market matures, we expect to see the scope and application of solutions continue to move towards the upper right of the matrix. See Figure 1. Even though many of the CEMS products provide some very sophisticated functionality, not all organizations want, or need, such capabilities – at least not in the short term. For this reason (amongst others), the majority of organizations will take a phased approach to implementation. As emissions trading schemes are still evolving around the globe, many companies are choosing to address only the most basic of requirements today (e.g. to meet their regulatory obligations) and will deploy additional functionality over time as required.

THE ROLE OF CEMS IN LOWCARBON ECONOMY CEMS can fulfill a number of functions for an organization in a low carbon economy, ranging from simple measurement through to helping mitigate the impact of emissions, which may have significant financial implications. The selection of a suitable product will need to reflect the particular focus of the purchaser at the time, although with a view to future requirements, for example as legislation is introduced. At its most basic level, a CEMS product may simply be used to calculate and report emissions on a periodic basis, usually annually. The reporting may be voluntary, for company financial or CSR reports, or for industry or lobby groups. It may also be a statutory requirement, either to comply

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

Figure 1. Distribution of CEMS market (Source Envirability, 2010)

with an existing law or to find out whether a law applies for the organizations level of emissions. The more complex the organization the more extensive and complicated will be the data gathering process. There will be a need to store the various pieces of information and data that define the requirement help calculate the end result, e.g. fuel conversion factors, local legislative and reporting requirements, etc. It will also be important to store the resulting emissions data over time and with increasing granularity, particularly if there is a need to track emissions reductions. For an international company working in a number of businesses and looking to reduce emissions, the data requirements can be extensive and will need careful management. At the heart of any CEMS product is the measurement process itself. It helps manage the data collection at all the levels the user requires – by facility, business unit, country operation, etc identifies the appropriate conversion factors, and it provides the final CO2e emissions figure. But a great deal of complexity comes from the fact that software providers are trying to ensure that all potential requirements of a major international corporation are met, as well as integration with

other software. The more comprehensive the tool, the more market opportunities for the supplier, but the greater the difficulties for many users. The more advanced functionality of CEMS is primarily based around helping organizations manage and reduce their emissions. Through planning capabilities and simulation the software can allow users to test alternative actions to reduce emissions and identify the most cost effective investments and actions. Some CEMS products can even interact with offset programs or carbon trading platforms to allow direct management of emissions liabilities in a regulated market. As carbon emissions increasingly acquire a real market value, the ability to directly manage this financial liability will become an essential part of the solution for large companies.

CARBON EMISSIONS TRADING Trading of carbon credits on stock markets is likely to happen in the near future. Many CEMS products have expanded to encompass carbon emissions trading system (ETS) issues. These trading systems are gradually being introduced

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around the world, usually in the form of ‘cap and trade’ systems. There are two distinct elements to such a system – a cap on carbon pollution volumes produced, and the ability to trade carbon emissions. The cap aims to reduce overall carbon pollution. The ability to trade aims to ensure carbon pollution is reduced at the lowest possible cost over time. Both require measurement and reporting of GHG emissions at a minimum. How a cap and trade Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme works: •

• •

• •

The government sets a cap on the total amount of carbon pollution allowed in the economy by covered sectors. The government will issue permits up to the annual cap each year Industries that generate carbon pollution will need to acquire a permit for every ton of GHGs they emit The quantity of carbon pollution produced by each firm will be monitored and verified At the end of each year, each liable firm would need to surrender a permit for every ton of carbon pollution the firm produced in that year.

Organizations compete in the market to purchase the number of permits that they require. Firms that value the permits most highly will pay the most for them, either at auction, or on a secondary trading market. For some firms, it will be cheaper to reduce emissions than to buy permits, thus they will be encouraged to emit less. Many people confuse a cap-and-trade ETS with a carbon tax. They are not the same. They key difference is that a carbon tax attempts to limit emissions by raising their price through direct taxation, while an ETS attempts to limit emissions by raising their price through market forces, driven by a restriction on overall emissions. Direct carbon taxes have rarely been tried, outside of Sweden and Denmark, though France is considering such a tax (a planned version was

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declared unconstitutional in late 2009, and revised legislation will be introduced).

CEMS OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES Despite the drivers and benefits of CEMS solutions, some organizations prefer to use in-house developed spreadsheets or databases or rely on consultant’s frameworks, models and services. There are various alternatives that organizations can examine rather than having to purchase sophisticated CEMS solutions. The alternatives are generally categorized by cost or implementation strategy: •

•

•

‘Free’ On-line Tools/Calculators: A number of tools have been made available online from a range of organizations including environmental groups, government agencies, consultancies, carbon offset providers, etc. Many are free, but commercial organizations will usually require company details first. The coverage and quality varies significantly and these calculators have limited use beyond providing a crude overall estimate of emissions for small companies. Spreadsheets: Often the first approach for businesses, spreadsheets may be all that a small company requires. But with reporting requirements expanding and increasingly onerous legislation coming into effect, and with the complications of international business and the potential complexity of calculations, most companies will need a more sophisticated approach. Smaller Emerging/Niche Vendors: The advantage of the dedicated solutions providers is that their offerings are built-forpurpose. These companies are aware of the issues and problems facing users and also of the potential product requirements. The

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

•

•

•

•

disadvantage is that it is a completely new application and potentially over-featured for current requirements. Large ERP/Suite Vendors: Given that many medium-to-large companies have costly ERP and/or finance suites already installed, it makes sense to add emissions accounting functionality to these solutions. The question is whether these mainstream solution vendors are up to speed on the market complexities and future requirements, and whether their additional modules represent a value-for-money solution. Specialist Vendors: There are companies that have a vested interest in seeing the spread of carbon emissions counting and reduction, for example those involved in carbon offsetting and trading. It is no surprise that companies focusing on these sectors have also developed emissions counting solutions, but these may not be as comprehensive as those from dedicated CEMS suppliers. Commercial Consulting Vendors: Consulting companies invariably use their own tools to assist in assessing clients’ carbon footprints and these solutions have become available commercially. These tools are less likely to be as comprehensive as others, mainly designed to automate the basic emissions assessment. Academic Services: Universities and other academic institutions have also been known to work with commercial organizations on a consultancy basis and offer carbon counting solutions. But these are more likely to be as the result of environmental research studies and designed to help companies with particular or complex problems, rather than the aim of fulfilling a general business requirement.

Key questions that organizations might want to answer once they have their basic measurement

and reporting process in place might be ‘What is our cost to reduce one ton of carbon?’ The effort, and therefore the cost, to reduce GHG emissions will be different for every organization. Even the same types of abatement projects in similar sized organizations – in similar industries – will potentially have very different business impacts. For example, a distribution company that runs a fleet of electric vehicles will have a very different response to a carbon abatement project than a company that runs a fleet of fossil fuel powered vehicles. The cost to reduce carbon must therefore be taken into account. As with any other form of business project, organizations will be required to implement strong project management practices that help them manage their abatement projects. Because carbon has a value associated with it the success of the CEMS solution will ultimately be viewed on its ability to provide accurate and reliable business impact information. The value of carbon may either be a real value when involved in trading or a notional value as a result of the introduction of cap-and-trade schemes prior to trading. Simulation and modeling capabilities will be required in more advanced and mature implementations but may not be necessary for smaller organizations or those that are primarily interested in simply meeting their measurement and reporting requirements without thought to reduction or abatement projects.

CEMS IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS There are many factors to consider when selecting a CEMS product. Different products are suited to different organizations, and there are many factors to consider: A key decisions will be whether to host the software internally or externally, or to use some combination of the two. The options can be summarized as:

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On-Premise/In-House A CEMS application may be installed alongside other applications on a company server or desktop. As it is likely that a number of people will need access, both to input data and gain access to reports, server installation is likely to be preferable in the long run. The software will need to be managed internally, in terms of installation, integration with other solutions, etc. but suppliers may well provide support (and training) services. Cost will be based on license fees, usually per user/seat.

and/or widely used applications that need to be continually maintained and updated.

Software as a Service (SaaS) Once more commonly known as Application Service Provision (ASP), SaaS is where an application is hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available online, usually via the internet, to a number of customers. This is often described as the ‘one-to-many’ service model. There are several advantages to this approach:

Hosted/Outsourced

•

CEMS may run on hardware and/or software managed by a third party (on or off premises). The general advantage of outsourcing is that a third party takes responsibility for managing and maintaining all or part of the company’s IT for a fixed cost. Some companies outsource all their IT and CEMS software may be automatically included, otherwise it will depend on what the outsourcing contract covers. If CEMS software is included, then the deal should cover implementation and the day-to-day support of the software. If only hardware is outsourced or it is just a hosting agreement then CEMS will be treated in the same way as an on-premise/in-house solution.

• •

Managed Services Hardware and software may be on or off-premise, but with the software managed by a third party. The advantage is a fixed cost for maintaining the software, implementing updates, supporting users, etc, with performance usually evaluated according to a Service Level Agreement (SLA). It may be an attractive option for an application such as CEMS that is out of the mainstream of corporate use with limited internal skills to support it, but a managed service is ideally suited to more complex

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•

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It removes the need for in-house computers to run the software No implementation process is required The cost can be directly related to the number of users Cost may also be dependent on the functionality used. Basic usage can be extended to planning and simulation, for example, as and when required and at an incremental cost (rather than a new supplier and software installation) The data and information on which CEMS relies, i.e. fuel conversion factors, legislation, reporting standards, etc. are kept upto-date and online by the service provider.

Because of the nature of the software, with intermittent use and the database required to back up the emissions calculations, CEMS is often provided as a SaaS solution. But the actual approach to CEMS taken by organizations will depend on the level of maturity of the IT operation, existing vendor contracts and the business drivers at the time the decision is made.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION Carbon management is potentially a complex process for all but the smallest companies. Any

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS)

business that uses significant amounts of energy and/or has an international operation will need to dedicate time and resources to what one IT supplier we spoke to described as ‘a business change scenario with the effect of Y2K but without the end date’. As with all compliance issues, there is a need to conform to all regulatory and legislative demands, but often insufficient need to keep the skills and resources required in-house. So the main alternatives are the periodic use of consultants to assess and advise, or to rely on commercial tools and in-house resources. It is unlikely that a consultancy will prove cost-effective in the long run for anything other than one-off projects, given the inherent inflexibility of their services. On the other hand, with basic in-house skills and an effective CEMS solution companies can keep up to date with all legislative and reporting requirements. CEMS products can also go much further. As carbon acquires a cost, under various cap-andtrade schemes for example, emissions will need to figure in financial planning. The ability to use CEMS to test actions and check outcomes will be an increasingly important part of the functionality. Whilst CEMS solutions offer the possibility of simplifying a significant corporate challenge, there will be differences in focus between products, in terms of counting or managing, sector focus, platforms, usage, etc. Purchasers will need to choose carefully, but with an eye to the fact that this is a compliance issue which is likely to continue to expand for some time to come and demand increasing amounts of management attention.

REFERENCES Cemsus (CEMS Census). (n.d.). www.cemsus. com. Referenced 12 December 2009 DEFRA. (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)(n.d.). www.defra.gov.uk. Referenced 12 December 2009

Greenhouse Gas Protocol (n.d.). www.ghgprotocol.org. Referenced 10 January 2010 Murugesan, S., (2007). Going Green with IT: Your Responsibility towards Environmental Sustainability, Cutter Executive Report, 10(8). Cutter Consortium. Arlington MA, USA. Philipson, G., Foster, P., & Brand, J. (2010). CEMS – A New Global Industry. Sydney, Australia: Envirability. Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, A. (2008). Lessons in Implementing “Green” Business Strategies with ICT. Cutter IT Journal, Special issue on “Can IT Go Green? 21(2), February 2008, pp32-39. Cutter Consortium. Arlington MA, USA. Unhelkar, B.,& Philipson, G.,(2009). The Development and Application of a Green IT Maturity Index”, ACOSM2009 – Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Software Measurements. ACOSM. Sydney, Australia. Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009). Managing Environmental Compliance: A Techno-Business Perspective”, SCIT (Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology) Journal, Sep, 2009, paper ID: JSCIT09_015. Pune, India: SCIT. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). http://unfccc.int. Referenced 10 January 2010

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Carbon Emission Management Software (CEMS): A new category of software system that helps organizations manage and report on their carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). Greenhouse Gas Protocol: An agreement launched in 1998 with the mission of developing internationally accepted greenhouse gas accounting and reporting standards.

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Climate-Related Risks: Legal, reputational, operational, financial and opportunity risks associated with climate change faced by businesses.

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Carbon Trading: Trading of carbon credits on stock markets as conducted today for financial positions.

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Chapter 31

Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System Kinjal Ramaiya Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology, India Vivek Shrinivasan University of St. Andrews, UK Siddhartha Bhargava University of St. Andrews, UK

ABSTRACT Green ICT systems provide the technological basis for organizations to adopt and implement Green ICT policies and practices. This system support can be enhanced by using the upcoming emerging technologies of Cloud computing, Web 2.0, Service Oriented Architecture and Mobile technologies. This chapter aims to incorporate these emerging technologies within Green ICT systems to help organizations be environmentally responsible. Green ICT can be considered as the adoption of an eco-friendly process by an organization in its practice of Information and Communication Technologies. The last decade, in particular, has seen profound awareness on the part of individuals as well as organizations in being environmentally aware. While automation and related computing activities continue to lead to exponential use of energy quotient, at the same time, Green ICT continues to chip away at the ‘resigned’ views of the decision makers to environmental responsibilities. ICT operates at systems level, applications level, at the end-user level through the desktops and printers, and at the enterprise level through its data centers, servers and other infrastructure. Green ICT is all about optimization and improvement of the organizational processes without hindering its progress in the use of technology and simultaneously minimizing the organizational impact on the environment. This chapter will discuss the context provided by ICT in introducing an organization to a Green ICT system and explaining a detailed architecture and design of such a system. The issues discussed include Hardware and Software implementations, infrastructures and attitudes and policies of decision makers and how they influence global warming, including carbon emissions and the use of software applications in measuring and reporting carbon emissions. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch031

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System

INTRODUCTION Today, emerging technologies such as Cloud Computing, Software Oriented Architecture (SOA), Software as a Service and mobile technologies are bringing the most cutting-edge innovative solutions and developments in the field of technology to fruition the business. These emerging technologies have seeped into the business processes of organizations. Such converging technologies have helped organizations attain competitive advantage by its innovative concepts that bring about developments within the field of business. These technologies have a substantial potential, by virtue of their incorporation within businesses to provide long term sustainability as well as creating positive impact on the environment. More than the cause of climate change; businesses are interested in investigating appropriate measures to handle the effects and most importantly, resolving their causes. This chapter investigates the architectural and design aspects of emerging technologies that can be used to ameliorate the effect of business activities on the environment. Thus, the discussion involves various emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) from a relatively more technical view point, but keeping its value to business, firmly in mind. The chapter involves a sustainable implementation of a Green ICT system within organizations to increase operational efficiency and promote use of best practices. The range of systems that are technologically advanced and that can help the organizations increase their green performance can be termed as “Green ICT Systems”. Green ICT systems provide the technological basis for organizations to adopt and implement Green ICT policies and practices. For example, with the help of Green ICT systems, an organization can accurately collect data on its carbon emissions, analyze it and report it to the regulatory bodies. The regulatory bodies help organizations access/evaluate its process efficiency ensur-

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ing the practice of optimal usage of competent technology and its consistent compliance. Such systems increase their potential multi-fold when we incorporate emerging green technologies such as Cloud Computing, Web 2.0, Services Oriented Architecture and Mobile technologies. The discussion as undertaken in this chapter, explores how Green ICT systems can benefit through the aforementioned advances, e.g. improving the accuracy or speed of response to changes in environmental data. While ICT activities themselves contribute to increased carbon emission in businesses, it is vital to note the opportunities that ICT systems can provide in the greening of an organization. ICT systems support end users, decision makers, customers and other users within and outside the periphery of the organization. Green ICT systems can not only help with collection and disbursement of data, but also help improve organizational processes without hindering the progress of organization in use of technology. This chapter discusses the incorporation of emerging technologies with Green ICT systems – particularly the various stakeholders in terms of improving the green credentials of the organization. Green ICT systems can provide support to implement policies of decision makers, calculations and reporting of carbon emissions and maintain the ability of the organization to continue its business operations with minimal effect on the environment.

BACKGROUND The Need for Green Business The average increase in the earth’s temperature within the last century has constantly been increasing (Climate Change 2007, 2007) to which green house gas emissions, deforestation, fossil fuel burning and other such human drivers towards climate change has a major percentage to play. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System

(IPCC) foresees a further rise in average global temperatures of between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees centigrade by 2030 (International Telecommunications Union, ICT and Climate Change). Such studies show evidence that there has been a drastic climatic change since the past decade. Certain organizations have realized both, the business benefits and the environmental impacts and have started taking positive actions in this direction. The 4th largest Information Technology service company, Fujitsu, has taken the initiative of reducing worldwide CO2 emissions (Watch Report 3, 2007). Also, the world’s largest media and conglomerate, Walt Disney, is planting a tree for every customer watching their production (Fujitsu Advances Green Data Centre Strategy with Total CO2 and Value Analysis Solution, 2009). Eventually every sector, industry, government and corporate business will realise the need for a more sustainable and more efficient infrastructure for their services, processes and products. With a lack of ways to measure and analyze the carbon emissions, it becomes difficult for organizations to optimize the usage of their resources as a part of the environmentally responsible strategy. Organizations and businesses are looking forward to Business Process Improvement (BPI). Business Process Improvement has become a vehicle for achieving sustainable value for organizations by means of Business Process Re-engineering. Organizations have a greater impact and can drive exponentially greater values with the focus of business rather than technology integration. Six - Sigma is an example of a Business Process Improvement that was implemented by Motorola initially (Environment, 2009). Six -Sigma is a process that analyzes the current activities being practiced within the business and the organization and reduces inefficiency and thus improving quality, reducing time and providing functional improvements to businesses. Business Process Improvement usually is succeeded by Business Process Re-Design or Re-Engineering. Such meth-

odologies will impact businesses and organizations for a greater environmental sustainability. Implementing Business Process Improvement for a better environmental strategy involves the following four steps: •

•

•

Identify Business’ Carbon Footprint: Identifying the current situation is the first step. The organization implementing Business Process Improvement needs to ask various questions like: what are the resources being consumed? Are the resources being used in line with the regulatory compliances and green metrics? Does the use of these resources harm the environment? How much carbon emission does my business processes generate? These questions will help the organizations to introspect and understand their current status, on the basis of which they shall build strategies and methods to go green. Define Strategic Goals: In this step, an organization needs to define their strategic goals to improve their carbon footprint on the environment. This step defines the end results of the business and the stage where the business wants to be after the defined period. Developing an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy helps in giving a proper structure to the goals. In case of a Green ICT system, the existence of an ERBS would help organizations examine the internal infrastructure of the IT department which would include technologies like Data Centers and organizational policies and practices (Schwartz, 2009). Determine the Stakeholders: Identifying the stakeholders who would participate in this strategic drive. For an organization, all the employees should be considered as its stakeholders and the process of identifying stakeholders is usually implemented (Tennant, 2001). Every strategy within an organization follows a high to low flow

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•

implementation. Thus, the top tier or the management team that initiates the change and as it flows, the middle and low tier of the organization adapt to the change (Murugasen, Feb 2008). The middle management personnel are responsible to monitor activities of their subordinates. They can ensure proper use of greener resources and ensure efficiency as well as compliance to green regulations. The people at the operations who have direct control of the production flow of an organization can be trained to follow the processes and procedures defined in the environmentally responsible business strategy. Align Processes to Goals: In this step, the business processes are aligned to the defined strategy in order to realize the organization’s environmentally responsible business missions. The real implementation of Business Process Improvement would take place in this stage, where the processes are modified and aligned to meet the requirements of the strategy. Implementation of Business Process Improvement is a project and hence, all the principles of Project Management can be applied.

This chapter focuses on technological advancement by detailing an environmentally sustainable business strategy involving ICT

Green ICT in the Context of Business Green ICT is the study and practice of using computers and telecommunications in a way which maximizes positive impact and minimizes the negative impact of those systems on the environment (GTZ Zopp, 1988). The way in which Green ICT systems minimize the impact on the environment is by incorporating and practicing design, manufacturing and usage of computers and other

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supporting systems efficiently and effectively (Patrick, 2000). The group of all strategies that are environmentally responsible and that focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems can be defined as Green ICT. The System also involves adoption of a holistic approach which would make the use of ICT systems economically viable. Optimization of ICT systems has been an age old concept for use of fewer resources, which would also lead decrease in global warming. The concept of greening ICT spans a number of focus areas and activities, including design for environmental sustainability, energy-efficient computing, power management, design, layout, and location of data centers, server virtualization, responsible disposal and recycling and regulatory compliance. The Green ICT concept also includes an environmentally sustainable strategy by providing services that enable organizations to improve their green status. Green Technology Strategies seeks to inform accepted management practices to achieve efficient and effective business interaction. The chapter aims to introduce to a type of green system that makes use of emerging technologies such as Cloud Computing, Software Oriented Architecture and other Mobile Technologies that strives to help organizations ascertain their current Green maturity index by providing capturing and analyzing services for their carbon emissions. Further, we will also discuss a means for organizations to assess ways to reduce the carbon footprints by implementing changes to the ICT operations and revising business processes. Green ICT has three important objectives towards businesses and organizations: • • •

Greening ICT Systems and usage. Using ICT to support environmentally sustainability. Using ICT to create green awareness.

Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System

Green ICT System as a Part of the Solution ICT acts as a catalyst for businesses and organizations to help processes and businesses grow and achieve environmental sustainability. The main reason behind why organizations should choose ICT as their key to environmental sustainability is because ICT spans almost every industry with its process and services. ICT has the power and the right ingredients to improve operational efficiency, cut costs as well as provide competitive advantage by making use of economies of scale. It is a reliable decision for organizations to implement and automate existing processes and procedures. For organizations, automation would eventually reduce overhead costs and produce more opportunities for growth and maintenance within as well as outside the ICT domain. ICT is the best starting point for organizations to start their greening (Murugesan, 2008). ICT provides the medium to overcome organizational and environmental challenges by providing opportunistic and strategic solutions. ICT has the capability to make organizational process more efficient that will out-compete other parallel processes and produce new opportunities that will support the future of the organization. Another important point that revolves around Green ICT is that the ICT system should itself be green. Greening the organization’s ICT processes itself would ensure a strong infrastructure, efficient power usage, data center design, proper cooling systems for machines and other such best practices. Green ICT also involves adoption of a holistic approach which would make the use of ICT systems economically viable. Optimization of ICT involves the use of fewer resources, which would also lead to less usage of these resources thereby reducing emissions and waste. The architecture, design and development of a Green ICT system involves the use of green technology strategies in order to strengthen the system by making use of design principles such as

Cloud Computing, Software Oriented Architecture and Mobile technologies. Green Technology Strategies are more than technological changes and advances; they are about organizational changes in policies and processes. By providing a technological solution that uses Cloud Computing, Software Oriented Architecture and emerging mobile technologies, the system will aim to help organizations ascertain their current green maturity index by providing services that will capture, analyze and report about carbon emissions. Such a solution will provide a means for organizations to assess ways to reduce the carbon footprints by implementing changes to the ICT operations and revising business processes. Recently, in the year 2009, Fujitsu announced expansion of its global Green ICT initiative named Green Policy Innovation “with the aim of achieving a cumulative reduction in worldwide CO2 emissions of more than 15 million tons over the four-year period from 2009 through 2012”. Fujitsu, a Japanese multinational computer hardware and ICT services company, have made environmental protection one of “top management priorities to contribute to the creation of a sustainable environment for future generations”. Fujitsu designed the Fujitsu Group Environmental Policy to promote environmental management to reflect their unequivocal business. A range of such policies were formulated by Fujitsu, such as the Green Policy 21 environmental concept; Green Policy 2020: Fujitsu’s medium-term environmental vision with targets to meet by 2020; and the Fujitsu Group Environmental Protection Program which was designed to realize Fujitsu’s other environmental objectives. Fujitsu, as a responsible part of the ICT community, offers innovative Green ICT solutions to mitigate the environmental impact of its customers and society as a whole. Thus, Fujitsu took their green initiatives according their business requirements and needs. Similarly, the need for Green ICT system too revolves around the requirement of a much more

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sustainable and efficient business processes and hence the development of a Green ICT system needs to be proposed

THE PROPOSED SYSTEM Organizations around the world have realized the advantage of using their resources in an optimal manner, restricting to lower carbon footprint as a social concern and to increase revenue. These organizations look forward to some standard that would help them measure and analyze the organization’s impact on the environment. The two main challenges which are faced in the industry in order to measure the carbon emissions across medium-sized to large businesses: “the need to comprehend how much carbon is being generated by the business activities, and even more importantly, the lack of standardized and detailed measurements to do so.” (Murugasen, Feb 2008) Services to calculate the emissions and the usage of carbon are provided by various organizations, such as the NGERS Calculator and the Household Emissions Calculator These services can be used both by different organizations as well as the common people. These services do not provide any way for the users to measure the amount of carbon emitted by them; it simply asks for the data from the user to analyze their level of impact on the environment. Similarly, at a larger scale, governmental organizations and other organizations such as Dell (Dell Calculator) and Lenovo (Lenovo Calculator) also provide services to analyze the carbon emissions, but require the users to measure their usage and feed the data. Knowing and realizing the need for such systems, Green ICT systems aims to overcome the lack of what businesses need to be. Rapidly growing importance of environmental issues requires organizations and enterprises for taking green initiatives (Bhuvan Unhlekar, 2009). Thus, Medium and large scale organizations require automated tools which can measure the

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exact amount of usage of a resources being used. The required tool should be able to measure the energy consumed by different appliances being used in the organization and provide the required data. This data would be fed to a centralized environmentally intelligent system which has the capability to analyze the data and generate reports, through which users can implement ways to minimize and optimize the usage of those resources. For example, a measurement tool could be developed which would calculate the total time for which different computer systems are up and running in a particular period of time. This data could be fed to the environmental intelligent system, which would process the data and provide various reports. This could also be done real time. With the upcoming of various technologies such as cloud computing and various mobile technologies organizations have more and more expectations from ICT. These new technologies provide a platform enabling organizations to analyze and optimize the use of their business resources. Service Oriented Architecture has also proved to be an excellent way to integrate loosely integrated services which are dynamic and which require a large amount of time to mature. Combining the forces of Cloud Computing and Service Oriented Architecture, the development and deployment of such tools and systems becomes much easier.

Aim of the System In the light of the measurement challenges and requirements of organizations, this project aims at designing a service which would help organizations ascertain their current green maturity index by providing the ability to measure, store, analyze, optimize and report about their carbon emissions in order to improve their green status. The system would make use of concepts of design principles like Software Oriented Architecture and using virtualized resources as a service within the cloud of computers. The cloud includes

Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System

the platform which is open to the development of software and interfaces. This platform as a service is useful for open development that can be accessed via the cloud i.e. the internet. Through this, the system itself ensures usage of greener technologies in helping the organizations optimize their energy resources ensuring the best practices of Green ICT system.

System Features There are five major features that the system would be incorporating. These features are explained in an order in which the Green ICT System would practice. •

•

•

Measure: Through this service, various devices and other resources being used in any business process can be monitored to measure the amount of carbon, CO2 or hazardous substances being emitted. This service can be made use of remotely as well as locally, depending upon the type of measurement tool. For example, to monitor the carbon emitted by a set of computer systems in a network in an organization, a tool needs to be deployed in the network to calculate the total uptime of these computer systems. Store: The system would be able to store the data for further analysis. A proper database would be maintained which would store all data according to the organization’s location and domain of business. Apart from other information, the type of appliance or resource, the factor which affects the environment and the unit in which the measurement was calculated are mandatory information which needs to be collected and stored. Analyze: Through this service any business, after calculating the resource utilization, would interface with the central database, or the “Green Knowledge Base” to

•

•

analyze the data. This Green Knowledge Base would be home to various environmental regulations, regulatory compliances and industry standards. Optimize: After analysis of the data, the Green Knowledge Base would be able to suggest some actions to be taken up to optimize the use of resources. Various actions would be suggested to reduce the impact of those resources on the environment. Report: Generating reports would help the organization carry out the optimization process in a much easier way. These reports would also help the organization in verification as well as documentation purposes like compliance to Green Auditing.

The system can ensure that the carbon data are measured collected and stored using services that can be used remotely as well as locally. By doing so, it helps the business to use these services of their choice. The system could also provide real time greenness measurement against the products or services of the organization according to the respective industry compliance. The system can then generate reports based on these captured data and comparisons.

Green ICT System Architecture The system would consist of three main components: •

Environmentally Intelligent System (EIS): The EIS would be an interface to the organizations which make use of this service. The EIS can be an On-Demand or On-Premise service. The On-Demand service would be provided to those organizations which do not want to get into the hassles of deploying the service in their local infrastructure. The provided service would be a web portal from where they can analyze their “greenness” and optimize

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their resources. On the other hand, the OnPremise service would be deployed in the infrastructure of the organization. This EIS would communicate with the Measurement Tools as well as the Green Knowledge Base. EIS would receive the carbon emission measurements from the Measurement Tools. Once receiving the data, EIS would communicate with the Green Knowledge Base to provide some ways and actions to optimize the use of the concerned resources. •

Green Knowledge Base: The Green Knowledge Base would be a collection of all the regulatory compliances, industry standards and the environmental regulations. Green Knowledge Base would hold all the information including the best practices to go green and would also provide examples of different organizations’ Green strategies. This knowledge base would be home to all kind of information required for an organization to go green. Table 1 summarizes what the Green Knowledge Base should consists in order to serve the EIS, and hence the industries, in the best possible way.

The information of Green Knowledge Base can be segregated based on different business domains. Thus, an organization having its business in the Textile Industry would have information based on different processes followed in a Textile industry. The advantage of having this kind of a structure is pretty clear. This advantage makes it Table 1. Contents of Green Knowledge Base €€€€€• GREEN KNOWLEDGE BASE €€€€€• Provide Information on various issues and problems €€€€€• Best Practices to go Green €€€€€• Various regulations and compliances around the world

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easier for different organizations to search for information based on the industry they operate in. Hence, for an organization working in the Chemical industry, the information available would be different from the organization working in the ICT industry. Evidently, the business processes and the devices used in both the organizations would be different, and would involve different actions to be followed for optimization of their resources. •

Measurement Tools: The measurement tools provide a way to monitor various appliances being used in an organization, compute the energy consumed by them and calculate the amount of carbon emitted. These measurements would be fed into the EIS which would then communicate with the Green Knowledge Base to learn the regulatory standards set for those appliances. After collating all the information from the Measurement Tool as well as the Green Knowledge Base, the EIS would suggest some optimization actions to improve the use of the business resources.

The Measurement Tool would be an On-Demand or an On-Premise service. The tool would be accessible from a web portal, through which the measurements would be captured, or would be deployed in an organization’s business from where all calculations can be made. Figure 1 depicts how the Green ICT system’s design. This system shows the implementation of the service using emerging technologies like Cloud Computing and Service Oriented Architecture forming two different modules, according to usage and deployment. As depicted in Figure 1, one of the modules consists of developing the Cloud, which consists of the Green Knowledge base and the Platform as a Service (PaaS). Through this module, different services like the ones mentioned previously -Measure, Analyze, Optimize, Store and Report

Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System

- would be provided. These services can be delivered On-Demand or On-Premise, making it a platform for users to develop their own interfaces in order to access the database. Services that can facilitate the usage of applications managed on underlying hardware and software support are termed as Platform as a Service (The Guardian). Figure 2 also shows how the EIS module would interface with the Green Knowledge Base. It would have access to all the services; Measure, Analyze, Optimize, Store and Report in an On-Premise or an On-Demand way. The idea of using platform as a service makes use of economies of scale and making processes more efficient. Web 2.0 is one such example where Figure 1. The Proposed System Architecture Diagram

users are given the platform to build their own applications in order to provide as a service to other end users. These services provide access to the Green KB which is customized according to business domains and processes. All these systems and software can be provided as a service. The EIS would interface with the cloud in order to analyze the data (from the measurement tools) and provide optimization actions to the organization.

GREEN ICT PROJECT An application framework for the measurement, storage, analysis and optimization of environmental data and to facilitate its comparison with regulatory benchmarks to ensure environmental compliance is presented. The framework can be divided into three broad categories: •

•

EIS: The EIS or Environmentally Intelligent System is a Decision Support System for any business willing to optimize its resources and take a green path in carrying out its business processes. This was the module which would be deployed in the organization, interfacing perfectly with the measurement tool as well as the Knowledge Base. The EIS contained a proof of concept demonstrating its working in one particular domain - the ICT domain. Knowledge Base: The Knowledge Base consists of a few regulations and compliances set on various appliances and devices. These limits were stored in differ-

Figure 2. The Proposed System Diagram

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•

ent units according to the geographical location under question. The regulations would be compiled from various sources: Government environmental agencies, meteorological departments as well as climate regulatory bodies and fed into the Knowledge Base. Network Environmental Management System: The Network Environmental Measurement System (NEMS) is a network measurement tool. NEMS involved monitoring the devices of a computer network, like the computer systems and printers. The NEMS calculates two different factors: ◦⊦ The power consumed by all the computer systems and network printers. ◦⊦ The amount of carbon consumed in printing of documents from each network printer.

Using two types of data, the NEMS calculates the total amount of carbon usage by a network of computer and printers, of an organization. NEMS then documents the devices according to their usage of power/electricity and generates reports as per the required information. The scope of the system was limited to physically connected devices and did not include wireless networked devices. The NEMS was based on a client-server mechanism. On expanding the scope, the tool could have capabilities to detect wireless devices and send instant reports to a mobile device. The mobile device could interface with the EIS to provide real time optimization actions. Such a capability was not feasible at the time of the project work. This could be one of the areas which could be looked into in order to make the system more generic and accessible on a larger scale and platform. As shown in Figure 2, the project consisted of three basic components namely • •

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The Knowledge Base Environmentally Intelligent System

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Network Environmental Measurement System (NEMS) – The Proof of Concept

By developing such a framework, it was realized that the consumption of energy within the ICT domain, especially usage of computers, printers and other devices within a network was known in the actual amount. Organizations and industries implementing such a system or software could have the knowledge to the exact figures of power usage and other emission details by which specific optimization actions could be taken. The scope of such a system being built using upcoming and emerging technologies such as cloud computing and the concept of software as a service is enormous. These are the technologies and ideas that have been proposed in this chapter. For the software framework to be developed, the critical success factors were the standards set up by the government, an authority or a body that would be responsible for the regulatory data and information. This framework, apart from working within the ICT domain, such as the manufacturing, retail or any other domain, would need technology that would enable the capturing of critical data from the basic materials on which the greenness is measured. In case of the ICT domain, software similar to the NEMS would be beneficial for capturing and measuring the energy in terms of power, electricity or even CO2 emissions. The framework was thus, specified into the generic system that contained the system for analyzing, measuring and reporting after comparing against the regulatory data. The framework also contains the modules of the NEMS such as the NEMS Database and Security. The basic elements that were needed in order for the system to make a decision were Area, Domain, Products, Factors and Units. Large sized organizations and enterprises carry out their business processes from a number of locations. Organizations also have involvement in a number of different business

Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System

domains, utilizing the power of a large amount of different products to carry out their business. Hence, the elements were used keeping in mind the span of different companies according to their location of business, as well as the domain in which they operate. Any business could customize the EIS to include the locations and the domains the business operates under in to synchronize the system with the business. The appliances, devices and other products which are used by the organization, which affect the environment, could be later added into the EIS for analysis purpose. Figure 3 shows the relation between all the sub systems of the framework. With a set of series of creation, edition and deletion of the main elements, the administrator could manipulate in order to customize the system according to the domain the business operates under, the locations in which the business has its presence and the products and devices used by the business affecting the environment. These calculations and measurement data can be entered in different units, again customizable by the administrator. Figure 3 also contains various other aspects (subsystems) of the project like the users which are required for the system, the measurement tools and the Green Auditing which would prove to be an advantage for regulatory bodies. All these subsystems were designed with the extended scope including the “future”. Green Auditing is one such field which seems to be promising. With the emergence of Green ICT at a rapid pace, it is just a matter of time that an auditing practice started to ensure compliance to “Green” measures.

CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING GREEN ICT SOLUTION For implementing a Green ICT solution, the obvious and the biggest challenge would be to develop tools and utilities which would measure the amount of resources being used by non-ICT devices. For example, it would be difficult to

develop a tool to measure the amount of carbon emitted from a car, or the amount of fuel used for cooking of food for a day. Gathering of all the regulations, limits and other compliances around the world to create the Green Knowledge Base would be a herculean task. It would take months or even years to collate all the Green information available on this Earth. Also, it would take a while till a formal document could be developed containing a set of Best Practices to go green. Thus, it would be necessary to update the Green Knowledge Base at regular intervals. Apart from these, challenges that can be expected during the implementation of such a solution can be similar to common software implementation challenges which cover the basic life cycle for a system implementation. In case of Green ICT system, the idea being quite vast, initial challenges would be faced during the requirement gathering phase of the implementation process which involves understanding the business processes, the devices being used and the resources being consumed. This data would then have to be fed into the Environmentally Intelligent System, which would then interface with the measurement tool as well as the Green Knowledge Base to provide the optimization actions. For a system to be successfully implemented, it is required that the users of that system to be interactive with the system. Users being the key stakeholders of the system require a highly intuitive and interactive interface based on the organizational requirements. Thus, it is necessary for the system to take sufficient time in order to communicate new processes and software functions; else the adoption of the new technology would be in jeopardy. This has a direct effect on the design and architecture of the system while being customized. Employees and users are required to be aware of the important learning objectives as well as the procedures and policies for the implementation of specific entity of the system or for the system as a whole.

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Figure 3. The System and the relation between the sub-systems of the framework

The other kind of challenges that which will be unique, such as uncertainty of metrics and measurements being captured by the system that are at a customized level. The major factors for such challenges depend on the organizational processes and policies. There will be technical challenges which usually depend on change management process1. Since systems would have to cope up with emerging technologies like Software Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing for technical

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support, maintenance as well as up gradation would require a constant eye.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS In this chapter, we have focused on some of the emerging technologies which we feel are relevant, but new energy efficient technologies will surface in the future. We plan to continuously upgrade the

Architecture, Design and Development of a Green ICT System

design and architecture of the Green ICT system to accommodate these new emerging energy efficient technologies to serve the penultimate aim of making ICT green. One of the new emerging technologies that could be integrated in to the system to make it greener is Sensor networks. The future holds many such technologies that have the potential to be extremely energy efficient. When the environmental legislation gets proposed and finalized, we plan to integrate the legislation within the system and provide an interface with the authorities to be updated with the following: • • • • •

Latest norms and regulations for restraining and restricting carbon emissions Industry processes and practices that are not environment friendly Recommended green procedures and technologies Global green scenario Green scenario specific to domains in order to rate how subscribing organizations are doing with respect to their peers

Since the entire green ICT system will not be owned by any particular organization or entity, we plan to introduce as it as a standard tool, that corporations and organizations have to integrate in to their businesses and processes to comply to the green regulations. We propose this system as a way to measure and report the carbon emissions of organizations to the authorities and to the organization itself. This will allow the authorities to regulate the carbon emission policies and take appropriate steps against violating organizations. The system would be an ideal way to enforce the green norms. Green Auditors can automatically generate reports depending upon the kind of access they are entitled to. The system would also help organizations to improve their emission levels by suggesting globally recognized practices, processes and strategies specific to their domain

in order to reduce carbon emissions and make the business more efficient. We also plan to put this design and architecture in to action by realizing an implementation for a specific domain first (preferably ICT) and then expanding it to other domains.

CONCLUSION The use of emerging technologies in Green ICT systems presents an interesting and innovative approach that holds a lot of promises and opportunities for designing and architecting Green ICT systems. This new approach reaps the benefits provided by emerging technologies to the advantage of all stakeholders. The approach presents the ideal design and architecture of a Green ICT system considering the current circumstances and the resources available. The integration of emerging technologies is justified in green ICT systems on account of the following reasons: •

•

The usage and integration of emerging technologies serves the basic purpose of going green by making the system more energy efficient and reducing energy and maintenance costs. Integrating emerging technologies presents an excellent opportunity for a better business model requiring lower investment from clients as well as the service provider company, which makes it economically viable even by medium scale organizations.

The simple design and architecture presented here can serve as a basis for developing Green ICT System implementations and also for building up more complex architectures, designs involving emerging technologies. Although green ICT systems incorporating emerging technologies definitely propose a solution to address the escalating environmental

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concerns for corporate firms, implementing Green ICT systems remains a futuristic thought as there are a lot of success critical factors that should be addressed before such a system could be implemented Some of the concerns are voiced below

Fujitsu (2009). Fujitsu Advances Green Data Centre Strategy with Total CO2 and Value Analysis Solution. London: Fujitsu Laboratories Eurpoe Limited.

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International Telecommunications Union. ICT and Climate Change. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.itu.int/ITU-T/worksem/climatechange/

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•

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Standardization of measures and units to measure carbon emissions Addressing the requirements for standard apparatus, equipments and technology to measure Addressing measuring and analyzing challenges across all commercial and industrial sectors. Addressing the need for universal regulatory data for organizations to comply to.

The success of Green ICT systems greatly depend upon how these concerns are addressed.

REFERENCES Australian Computer Society, Computer Professional Education Program, Green Technology Strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2009, from http://bit.ly/6tAAS8.

Green Technology Strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/6tAAS8

Lenovo Calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// lenovoweb.com/energycalculator/ Murugasen, S. (2008, Feb). Can IT go green? Cutter Consortium Journal. Journal of Information Technology Management, 21(2). Murugesan, S. (2008). Your Responsibility Toward Environmental Sustainability. Going Green with IT. Arlington, MA: Cutter Consortium Business IT Strategies. NGERS Calculator link. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/bBu4h7 Patrick, C. F. (2000). An Organization Behavior Perspective. Managing Strategy Implementation. London: Blackwell Publisher Ltd.

Change, C. (2007). Summary of Policy Makers. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Schwartz, A. (2009). Today’s 5 most innovative Green Initiatives. Earth Day 2009. New York: Mansueto Ventures LLC.

Dell Calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://bit. ly/cJWk2F

sHousehold Emission Calculator Link. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/aQ55f

Environment. (2009). Retrieved from Fujitsu: http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/environment/

Tennant, G. (2001). Six Sigma: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services. Surrey, UK: Gower Publishing Ltd.

Forrester Consulting on Behalf of Serena Software. (2006). The Challenges of Software Change Management in Today’s Soiled IT Organizations. Cambridge, MA: Forrester Research Inc.

The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www. guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/17/google. software Watch Report 3. (2007).

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Unhelkar, B. (2009). Green IT Measurement Challenges. Arlington, MA: Cutter IT Journal.

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Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, A. (2009). Lessons in Implementing “Green” Business Strategies with ICT. Arlington, MA: Cutter IT Journal. Zopp, G. T. Z. (1988). Retrieved from An Introduction to Method Eschborn: http://bit.ly/5RldK3

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Business Process Improvements (BPI): Is an approach in which optimizes underlying processes to gain efficiency and aligns business goals. Software Oriented Architecture (SOA): Is a set of protocols used for the process of system

development and integration that provides end users services that can be used within multiple domains. Cloud Computing: Is a concept in which dynamically scalable and virtualized resources are provided as a service over the internet which is also known as the cloud. Software as a Service (SaaS): Is a concept where the software is provided as a service which is licensed by the provider. Platform as a Service (PaaS): Is a provision platform for software development present in the cloud. It provides facilities and supports the web developing life cycle providing it as a service over the internet.

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Chapter 32

Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks Dave Curtis MethodScience, Australia Amit Lingarchani MethodScience, Australia

ABSTRACT This chapter introduces the concept of using Enterprise Architecture and associated practices as a method for helping establish and align Green ICT initiatives within organizations as part of an overall ICT Strategy. The chapter introduces the reader to the use of architectural layers – Business, Information, System and Technical as a means of analyzing areas within the ICT environment where Green ICT implementations can have a positive impact. Enterprise Architecture as a function can assist in driving Green ICT initiatives because it is specifically focused as a practice in the long term planning, development and management of an organisation’s ICT environment. This provides the opportunity to embed Green ICT objectives in a way not necessarily possible with traditional business planning.

INTRODUCTION Green ICT system architecture provides a robust basis for an organization’s push to become an environmentally conscious green organization. This push starts with identification of the Green ICT objectives of the organization. However, without a plan and an approach for implementing them, these objectives may have limited chance of being achieved. Green ICT initiatives are going beyond simply operational or tactical activities – instead, DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch032

these green initiatives are becoming an integral part of business strategies and planning. Therefore, the architectural aspects of the enterprise including its solution and enterprise architecture need to be considered afresh in the attempt of the organization to be strategically green. This chapter discusses the use of an ICT Enterprise Architecture function to assist in implementing Green ICT objectives by providing a framework, analysis techniques and measures to help drive success. Additionally, it helps provide guidance on what areas can be investigated that can provide a direct impact on Green ICT. Enterprise Architecture is about long

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Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks

term and sustained planning. As a function it is focused on long term planning and alignment of Business and I.T. strategy. A key aspect of this is the ability to gain tracability between an organisation’s goals and strategy to the initiatives that will deliver them. Additionally because Enterprise Architecture is intended to address all of the layers of ICT it affords a greater opportunity to effect more fundamental changes.

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ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW

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Enterprise Architecture (EA) as a function assists with the progress towards a Green ICT environment within an organization (Eas, 2009). Before expanding on this statement, it is important to understand what Enterprise Architecture is and its overall purpose as a function within an organization. Enterprise Architecture is “a means of ensuring that the ICT strategy of an organization is aligned to its business objectives, goals and vision”. Therefore, Enterprise Architecture is an important strategic element of the organization. An EA: •

•

•

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Provides a mapping between strategic objectives and the ICT capabilities that an organization requires to deliver them. Details the Operating Model of an organization which highlights the “core” capabilities required in the environment. Provides a framework for detailing the architectural models - business, information, system and technology necessary to deliver the target state. Provides a governance framework to drive decision making related to the progress towards the end state architecture. This includes decisions related to priorities, standards and technology alignment amongst others.

Provides a feedback mechanism constantly updating the current state as new initiatives are completed, new capabilities realized and environmental changes are made.

Figure 1, based on Ross et al. (2006) Foundation for Success, provides an overview of how these components interact to effect this evolution: As is seen from Figure 1, an EA program typically contains a number of streams:

• • • •

Business Strategic Objectives baseline capture. Current Technology baseline capture. Target State creation including the definition of the operating model to be supported. Opportunity analysis and identification. Technology and initiative governance review.

As a specialism within ICT, EA still has challenges associated with adoption (Madsen, 2009). Whilst John Zachman, who is considered to be the father of EA, detailed the idea of Enterprise Architecture in his whitepaper “A Framework for Enterprise Architecture” back in 1984 (Zachman, 2009) the adoption of this as a practice within many organizations is only more recently beginning to occur. There are a number of factors for this including lack of availability of expertise and defined process support amongst others. Additionally the early challenge was in providing evidence that the implementation of an EA function could achieve the stated benefits realisation. A number of frameworks and processes have emerged to support the implementation of an Enterprise Architecture. Some examples include: • • • •

Zachman Framework. The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF). The Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF).1 Garner Architecture Method.

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Figure 1. Enterprise Architecture Interaction Model (Curtis, 2009)

The ultimate purpose of an EA framework is to enable the user to define a target state for an organization’s ICT environment, govern the delivery and provide a constant feedback mechanism to refine it as new strategy and business objectives emerge. EA provides a way to get Green ICT initiatives embedded in the organization. A key notion in the previous discussion is that, within the context of EA, it is the strategic objectives and vision of the organization that ultimately drives how the ICT environment changes and matures.

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BUSINESS STRATEGY AND VISION Business Strategy and Vision are a very important part of Enterprise architecture. If by definition an EA is designed to align an organization’s ICT and business strategies then the technology initiatives being delivered should inherently support those objectives and move the environment towards the desired state. As discussed in the previous section there will be any number of drivers, internal and external, which may drive an organization to incorporate green ICT policies into their overall strategy.

Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks

For this reason an organization’s Green ICT objectives must be incorporated into the overall business strategy. This is necessary for the following reasons: •

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•

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It provides a platform for the organization to define its vision and priorities as they relate to environmental policy and more importantly validate them.2 It provides a platform for quantifying environmental objectives, for example to define the financial or environmental benefits that will be derived through the delivery of initiatives designed to meet that objective. It provides the basis for providing traceability between strategic objectives and the ICT program. Enables the EA governance model to evaluate defined initiatives for compliance with the overall agreed business vision.

Green ICT initiatives need to be embedded in the overall transformation process for an organization. Failure to define key objectives, desires and goals at the strategic level will likely result in them not being achieved. The extent to how an organization strategy is affected depends largely on what individual organization wishes to achieve with their Green ICT initiatives. For example, whilst asking staff “to ensure monitors are switched off at night” might

be an appropriate measure and objective others, such as “reducing the overall carbon footprint by 30% in 3 years” may require more pervasive work to be undertaken. Some things are easier to achieve than others and therefore require a greater level of planning. Figure 2 shows the various architectural layers typically associated with EA. These layers include the technical, application, information and business services. The point of an EA program is to build a solid ICT foundation that successfully supports the business. Business services3 (topmost layer in Figure 2) can help to progressively develop the architecture by defining the subsequent layers to build services that support the required business processes. Moving progressively down through these layers involves the definition of the more physical aspects within the environment – business applications, systems, technology platforms and infrastructure. In order to bring appropriate change in the lower levels of the architecture it is necessary to have a clear view of those at the top. Especially as the deeper layers of the architecture, especially those that involve physical technology will take longer to incorporate changes. The next section provides an impact on multiple levels of the architecture within an organization depending on the nature of identified Green ICT objectives.

Figure 2. Enterprise Architecture Layers (Curtis & Wu, 2009)

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Overall there is a higher likelihood of success by including organization level Green ICT objectives within the overall business strategy driving an EA program.

APPLICATION OF EA IN GREEN ENTERPRISE In this section we have addressed the analysis of our architecture review from the perspective of the definition of Green Computing provided by Murugesan (2008): “the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems— such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. Green ICT also strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. Thus, green ICT includes the dimensions of environmental sustainability, the economics of energy efficiency, and the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. It is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently.” EA is a mechanism for guiding and assessment of using computer resources efficiently in the context of an organization’s ICT needs if the practice of using computing resources efficiently is an objective of green computing. By assessment we mean the ability to measure the appropriateness of an existing environment against a desired target based on these objectives. Integrating Green ICT policies into an Enterprise Architecture gives organizations an opportunity to bring desired changes more pervasively. The nature of an EA program is designed to cover all aspects of an organization’s ICT operating model and environment – from the manner in which business processes are supported by applications through to the platforms used to deliver them. As outlined in Figure 3, EA programs are

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evolutionary in nature, continually being reviewed and measured against organization objectives. This evolutionary model provides changes across the entire ICT environment over time and enables organizations to effect change in areas that may not otherwise have been possible. One of the challenges in implementing green ICT policies and initiatives involves broadening the view of beyond an infrastructure focus and its corresponding reduction in energy use. This is somewhat reflected in the Green ICT definition described above. Recent media focus has popularised events such as Earth Day [Earthdaynetwork, 2009] which encourages society to switch off electrical devices to reduce carbon emissions and consumption. Part of the problem with this is that whilst conservation is always important it misses the point that more fundamental changes often bring an opportunity for bigger results. For example focusing on turning off lights in a building instead of improving overall efficiency by incorporating aspects that would have a higher impact – such as insulated windows and doors which are incorporated into the original design. Whilst reducing energy consumption should be an important aspect of any organization’s Green ICT policies, Enterprise Architecture can be utilised to highlight areas where change can also effectively contribute to these objectives – such Figure 3. Green EA Review Cycle

Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks

as in the construction, where there is an opportunity to make bigger, more lasting impacts.

Current Targets for Green ICT One of the first things an organization needs to agree is what its Green ICT objectives are. These objectives will be driven largely by two major categories of drivers: •

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Internal drivers: Internal drivers are those which are created and controlled within the organization and which it considers important. Examples can include areas such as delivering cost savings, business efficiency gains or enhancing market reputation. External drivers: External drivers are those which are external to the organization and to which there is limited control but an impact on how it conducts its business now or in the future. Examples of this include government legislation or policies, regulations, competition and others.

Architectural Approach This section provides guidance on how to use the concept of Architectural Layers to assist in identifying where to look for efficiencies. Each layer focuses on a different aspect of the ICT environment and Figure 4 provides a high level guide of what subjects each layer includes Another way to view this is by utilising the Enterprise Architecture framework grid created by John Zachman (2002). The primary focus of the Zachman framework is to provide taxonomy or classification for identifying required “views” based around the perspective of specific roles required in defining and delivering an Enterprise Architecture. The framework covers all the subject areas incorporated in defining an EA. The purpose of defining these views is to convey to identified stakeholders the necessary detail for both review-

ing and confirming the architecture in different areas. The architecture layers described previously have been overlaid onto the framework to provide a visualisation of where each is defined. One benefit of using taxonomy as a guide is that it provides assistance to the user in identifying areas of the EA where Green ICT initiatives can be detailed and then implemented. This is especially true where organization level principals need to be supported by specific, concrete actions or approach to achieve them.

New Targets for Green ICT There are a number of areas within each architectural layer than can be used to help deliver Green ICT objectives. The purpose of this section is to provide the reader with guidance on the analysis that can be undertaken to help identify specific green components into the architecture. For the purposes of our investigation into the architectural layers we’ve used the broad objective of effecting change to improve ICT efficiencies and their cascaded effects on an ICT environment that contributes to an overall green ICT model. Of course individual organizations will need to undertake this review of their architecture incorporating specific goals and objectives. Some objectives to be considered include: •

•

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Reviewing the way an organization operates to identify areas that can be reengineered to gain efficiency according to Green standards laid through regulations. Reviewing individual behaviors to understand what change management is required to alter in order to align with goals designed for Green organization. Reviewing objectives around control of carbon emissions and how this relates to the physical ICT environment.

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Figure 4. Overview of architectural layers

Business Architecture The Business Architecture deals with the definition of the models which describe how an organization is structured to deliver its operations. This includes defining the domains highlighted in the columns above – what, where, how, who, when and why. Because the business architecture models the behaviors’ of an organization, it reflects what is required in the ICT operations and as a result generally has an impact on the remaining layers within the EA. Predominately this is because the remaining layers are specifically designed to support the processing requirements defined. The definition of the business architecture can therefore have positive and negative impacts to green ICT objectives. Impacts can include: • • •

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The number of systems required to support a process. The number (and potential location) of staff required to support a process. The consumables required to support a business process, examples include how much paper is required (for example to create documents).

All of these are jurisdiction of the Business Architecture and specific questions should be considered when reviewing this as it relates to green business process and behaviors: 1. Are identified processes actually required? Strange as this might sound a review of current business processes often identifies areas where processes can be made redundant through a redesign of the current state. This may reduce energy consumption. 2. Do existing processes support straight through processing? Straight through processing (STP) reduces the need for additional systems or effort involved in completing required business processes. This includes potential reduction in paper handling, infrastructure investment, staff effort and cost in moving data from one system to another. 3. Can processes be altered to make better use of electronic information delivery? Examples can include modifying business processes to reduce the amount of physical paper required. This could include delivery of electronic document management system internally or hosted by 3rd parties. This reduces costs associated with consumables.

Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks

4. Can suitable re-engineering of processes reduce the environmental impact of carrying them out? For example some business process re-engineering could be used to remove inefficiencies in existing processes that reduce the effort or footprint associated with carrying them out. This could involve centralising processes and their associated ICT systems to reduce the amount of office space, infrastructure, technology or staff required to deliver them. This may reduce physical office space requirements and potentially power requirements. 5. Can processes be outsourced? Often an identified process may be better suited to execution by an outsourced service provider. This approach may obviate the need for an organization to maintain systems or facilities associated with their delivery. Outsourced providers may be more efficient at executing these processes which would reduce internal overheads. Not surprisingly the areas described above can have a significant impact on the efficiencies (or otherwise) within the organization and as such the Business Architecture should be included in any Green ICT review.

Behaviour Changing processes alone is not going to be sufficient to ensure that specific aspects of a green ICT program are delivered. Human behaviors must also be addressed. In this respect an EA program must also include consideration of an appropriate change management program. Without this it is likely that the required objectives will not be achieved. A change management program needs to include: •

A case for change. Why is the change necessary and what will the benefits be?

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Impact of change. How change will impact individuals? How will the proposed changes impact people’s specific function or work practices? Regular communications. A suitable communication strategy should be derived to ensure the organization understands the nature of the change.

In deriving a Green ICT strategy it is important to recognize that a change management program will be central to driving specific types of change within the organization.

Systems and Technology Architectures The System and Technology architectures are concerned with the business applications and technology environments that are required to deliver them. These architectures can be subdivided into a number of areas to facilitate further review: •

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Business applications - Involves selection and use of business applications required to support the organization. Hosting environments - Technical environments required to host business services. Data centre operations and Desktop Planning and operation of the data centre and desktop technologies. Peripherals - This includes printing technologies and covers their configuration and ongoing use as well as maintenance.

Specific approaches should be considered when reviewing and planning a Systems and Technology architecture. Irrespective of Green ICT objectives many of these are considered as sound ICT planning policies as part of any EA program.

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1. Review application platform technologies. Consolidating application platforms into fewer technology platforms reduces the need to operate additional servers and supporting environments. This doesn’t necessarily mean less business applications are required but applications in use can run within a standardized operating environment – such as operating in a Windows or Linux operating system environment or within particular web hosting technologies. 2. Review system duplication. Identify systems that are performing duplicate functions with a view to retire and decommission some environments. 3. Review application hosting approaches. Transitioning from a one application – one server approach to a virtualisation strategy will help reduce the physical server footprint within a data centre. Virtualisation technologies allow multiple virtual server environments to be hosted within a single physical server thus reducing the amount of space required to host services. This approach can substantially reduce the server footprint in the data centre and related energy consumption requirements. 4. Consider different approaches to business application provision. Emerging technology environments including Cloud-based computing and Software as a Service models (SaaS) are enabling organizations to deliver ICT solutions without the need to host these applications in-house, thereby making use of shared services. Use of shared services reduces the in-house data centre provisioning that is required. 5. Modify shared printer policies. Review the standard configuration for shared printers to utilise duplex (2 sided) printing and implement policies that replace non-compliant equipment over time. 6. Procure green consumables. Implement policies that ensure recycled materials are

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used wherever possible. This includes consumables such as paper. 7. Desktop policies. Modify desktop PC policies to force the use of stand-by modes for unattended equipment. 8. Ensure suitable recycle facilities. This includes the provision of recycle bins for paper and other consumables such as printer cartridges at the point of use.

Quantifiable Change Today it is important to for every organization to focus on creating objectives and targets that are quantifiable wherever possible. Objectives that cannot be quantified will be difficult to measure when it comes to assessing the success or otherwise of a particular initiative. 1. Does the change align to our Green ICT objectives? This question requires quantification and measurement of green ICT objectives that are specific – such as carbon emissions per department or division, per day and the expected reduction. 2. Can the proposed change be measured? Without a measure how do you ascertain success? When you define objectives to be implemented this should include detailing how to measure that the change is successful. For example targets related to reduction in server footprint in data centres, calculated reduction in operational costs – such as power. This can also include reductions in operating expenses associated with business process efficiencies. 3. Is there a suitable success criteria? Without success criteria measuring the effect of a change will be difficult. This doesn’t mean that all criteria necessarily requires parameters that can be calculated. Example might include setting the number of application environments to be virtualized within a given period, the number of desktop envi-

Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks

ronment to incorporate stand-by modes or the percentage of paper handling functions to be reduced. 4. How will this success be measured? The overall ICT strategy should incorporate both time period measures as well as those that are ongoing. Will you review quarterly, biannually or yearly for example. Additionally there needs to be mechanisms incorporated to allow these measurements to be undertaken. This may mean improving areas of recording within the existing environment such as asset lists or extensions in the nature and type of data collected. Examples incorporate in a hardware environment the CO2 generated per unit or energy consumption. Additionally this may include the need to capture information about other areas such as business processes. This may include information such as the paper generated or other costs associated with delivering the specified service. With these measure in place in becomes easier to track the relative level of compliance with the Green objectives which are trying to be achieved.

GREEN EA IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES AND MIGRATION STRATEGY There are a number of challenges associated with implementing Green ICT policies into an organization. The change one desires to make in an organization requires modification of aspects of an ICT environment that are least flexible - physical platforms, applications and other infrastructure. A result is that achieving specific Green ICT objectives will require time. One benefit of using an EA approach to planning and guiding the implementation of these objectives is that it enables an organization to affect change across the entire spectrum of the ICT environment. Since EA practice is by virtue reviewing business processes,

information, systems and technology, an organization can touch the lowest, most challenging areas of the ICT environment. Another challenge is in agreeing what the Green ICT principals and objectives will be and adhering to the plan of implementing them. As described in the previous sections opportunities exist to create efficiencies at multiple levels of an ICT architecture but implementing will be a challenge – especially where this involves changes in behaviours associated with new business processes and associated applications. These are also general issues faced by any EA program. Cost is also a potential issue especially where organizations have significant investment tied up in existing environments or where systems and infrastructure has been depreciated in value to the point where it has a limited investment impact on the organization. Once again, an EA approach will help organizations plan these changes in better alignment with specific lifecycle policies for infrastructure and systems. This enables the changes to be incorporated as part of broader objectives. Where an organization has not attempted a programme of this nature a suitable migration strategy should be developed to provide a roadmap that takes you from the current state to the desired state. Notably a migration roadmap should include: •

•

Review and agreement of what the organization wants to achieve environmentally so that this can be evaluated in the context of Green ICT Decide what priorities are in place for the organization to provide a focus for the investigation work. A large potential trap with Enterprise Architecture is the tendency to “Boil the Ocean” and engage it what we refer to as “analysis paralysis”. The areas of focus should always be aligned to organization priorities and imperatives. This ensures that value can be demonstrated more quickly.

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Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks

•

• •

•

Incorporate the Green ICT objectives into the Enterprise Architecture Principals and importantly – get them agreed with the executive team responsible for architectural governance within the organization. Principals represent the manner in which certain activities will be undertaken with regards information technology. Examples might include “The Organisation will always make infrastructure purchases based on vendors with a 5 star energy rating”. Another might be “business processes will be designed to incorporate the use of electronic document delivery by default and wherever possible”. Map Green ICT objectives to individual programmes of work so there is tracability. Ensure suitable measures are designed and built in to the programme delivery. Often some measure may not exist within the existing information environment and as such may need to be created or accommodated for Regularly review programmes for compliance with the stated objectives. This should be a part of any Enterprise Architecture programme regardless.

FUTURE DIRECTION With the significant increase in focus on environmental issues globally and continued government intervention through taxes, levies and other measures it is inevitable that organizations will continue to drive towards greater efficiencies. As ICT is a contributor to environmental issues, it is important to find out its impact on Green environment in future. Most likely this future will include a greater degree of regulation related to the impact that aspects of the industry contribute to the environment; This is going to result in organizations taking a much closer interest in both understanding and

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monitoring the own contributions as well as an active role positively impacting them. Enterprise Architecture will likely play a role in this. In the context of Enterprise Architecture this could include: • •

• •

•

Architecture frameworks which include Green ICT implementation guidance. Better environmental impact information related to hardware (e.g. servers, desktop equipment, monitors). This will be used as part of asset management to enable more scientific calculations to be undertaken when assessing environmental impacts. Environmental ‘impact‘analysis associated with business process design. Better business reporting process by providing automated measurement which can be standardized on environmental performance. Incorporating measurements and metrics through web services in a collaborative business environment involving multiple organizations and industries.

CONCLUSION Green ICT initiatives can clearly be beneficial not only to the environment but to the organization itself. As longer term government policy is likely to continue driving society towards even greater efficiency demands, these will in turn prompt organizations to continually review their operations identifying how appropriate policies and mechanisms can be implemented to achieve the required efficiencies. Tackled correctly this effort provides an opportunity for organizations to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Integrating a Green ICT policy into an organization can be done at multiple levels and achieving success at a deeper level requires planning. This chapter’s aim has been to demonstrate how this can be achieved through the use of an Enterprise

Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks

Architecture function - assisting the definition and implementation of Green ICT objectives more pervasively within an organization than would necessarily be possible otherwise. Enterprise Architecture is concerned with aligning I.T. Strategy with Business Strategy. This involves reviewing a number of levels of architecture within an Organization – Business, Information, System and Technology. Including Green ICT objectives as part of an overall business strategy affords the ability to incorporate these needs in Enterprise Architecture planning. As outlined in the previous sections each of these levels can be positively impacted by Green ICT initiatives. This includes: •

•

•

•

•

Re-factoring of existing business processes or the creation of new ones that reduce effort or other costs, e.g. consumables such as paper. Changes to ICT purchasing policies that promote the procurement of efficient technologies and standards. Re-factoring of existing application hosting arrangements which promotes a shared service model, e.g. virtualisation which reduces server footprint within Data Centers. Buy instead of build application procurement processes which utilise software as a service models (SaaS) which obviates the need to implement technology in-house. Changes to internal staff and ICT policies that promote changes in behaviours such as utilising stand-by PC modes and duplex printing (by default).

Depending on the nature of the specific objectives of an organization, implementing Green ICT policies can take some time to achieve. As a result the more effort taken initially with the up front planning can help ensure that the specific needs identified are incorporated in the planning. This is important as some areas may be more difficult to implement than others and retrospectively at-

tempting this may be costly or not viable once other decisions are taken financially. An Enterprise Architecture approach will help avoid this.

REFERENCES Curtis, D., & Wu, M. (2009). Investigation into the Impact of Integration of Mobile Technology Applications into Enterprise Architecture. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives (2nd ed.). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Earthdaynetwork (2009), About Earth Day Network. Retrieved 13th December 2009, from Eas, (2009). Enterprise-Architecture.com, Retrieved 10th January 2010, from Madsen, H. (2009), The Skeptical Enterprise Architect. Retrieved 20th January, 2010, from < http://www.eagov.com/archives/2009/02/ the_skeptical_e.html> Murugesan, S. (2008). Harnessing Green ICT: Principles and Practices. IEEE ICT Professional, 24-33. Ross, J., Weill, P., & Robertson, D. (2006). Enterprise Architecture as Strategy (p. 10). Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Zachman, J. (2002). Enterprise Framework Standards. Zachman Framework Associates, Retrieved 17 Oct 2009, from Zachman, J. (2009), The Zachman Framework Evolution, Retrieved 1st December 2009, from < http://www.zachmaninternational.com/index. php/ea-articles/100#maincol> Curtis D. (2009). Enterprise Architecture – Current State Review and Roadmap, pp. 5-11.

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Enterprise Architecture (EA): A structure of integrating business processes with ICT supported, by providing a visualization enterprise solution of the relationships among the System, Process, People, and Data in an organization. Zachman Framework: The Zachman Framework is an Enterprise Architecture framework for enterprise architecture, which provides a formal and highly structured way of viewing and defining an enterprise. Zachman Framework is taxonomy for organizing architectural artifacts. Business Services: Business Services are the specific services which are offered by business to customers. Business Services is a very important layer and resides on top of Enterprise Architecture. Technology Platforms: Technology Platform refers to the specific platforms on which technical architecture is laid out and is made to run. This type of platform mostly consists of mixture of hardware and software services.

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Green Computing: Green Computing is the way of using computers and related resources in an environmentally responsible manner. The term refers to sustainable computing.

ENDNOTES 1



2



3



FEAF was later used as the basis of other Government architecture frameworks. An example includes the Australian Government Architecture At a strategic level an organization will likely have environmental objectives which will ultimately result in specific green ICT initiatives being detailed and implemented, for example – “to reduce the organization carbon footprint by 30% in 3 years”. Key business services would be identified from the core operating model and strategic objectives

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Chapter 33

Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice Vu Long Tran Springboard Research, Australia

ABSTRACT Carbon emissions and their impact on the overall climate are increasingly becoming a major issue and topic of discussion for individuals, organisations and Governments all over the world. Attempts are underway to bring about sustainable practices at all these levels. Information Technology (IT) can be viewed as major contributor of carbon emissions due to the large power requirements for running IT. While may be the case, IT can also be a means to facilitate the mitigation and reduction of carbon emissions by enabling organisations. These IT tools typically come in the form of Carbon Emission Management solutions (CEMS), custom-built spreadsheets, along with other customised varieties. Each can be implemented to support and address some of these challenges although they each pose challenges of their own. They are available that facilitate improved positioning and visibility for the organisations and to provide desired functionality, including:*Record, measure, monitor and forecast carbon emissions within the organisation, *Report and comply with the growing number of legislative requirements, *Participate in carbon trading more efficiency and effectively. These CEMS tools can allow organisations to have greater awareness and be able to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their current processes and procedures and meet carbon emission challenges. This chapter discusses the practical aspects of the use of such CEMS tools. This chapter first outlines the three categories of CEMS tools, followed by a comparative analysis of the various advantages and limitations of each of these tools. Finally, this chapter outlines the ways in which the CEMS software can be used in organisations. Challenges related to configuring and implementing the software is discussed from a practical viewpoint. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch033

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice

INTRODUCTION

•

Carbon emissions and their impact on the overall climate is increasingly becoming a major issue and topic of discussion for individuals, organisations and Governments all over the world. Attempts are underway to bring about sustainable practices at all these levels. For business organisations, in particular, this brings about specific challenges in terms of understanding and complying with standards and regulations that are not only complex but are also continuously changing as new understandings and agreements come into place (e.g. the Copenhagen summit, Dec 2009). Information Technology (IT) can be viewed as major contributor of carbon emissions due to the large power requirements for running IT such as IT equipment, including the data servers which also require specific buildings that need to be kept cool. Whilst this may be the case at times, i.e. running IT does add to carbon emissions, the savings made in relation to IT generally aren’t always as significant as the gains that can be made when IT is used to enable carbon emissions management and reduction initiatives within other areas of a business or industries. Particularly when IT is used at various points of business processes, procedures, and/or as a tool in a way that it will allow organisations to be better positioned to understand and manage their carbon emissions. (Foster 2009) There are various processes, procedures and tools that do facilitate this improved positioning and visibility for the organisations and these include Carbon Emission Management solutions (CEMS), custom-built spreadsheets, along with other customised varieties. Each can be implemented to support and address some of these challenges although they do each pose challenges of their own. Whilst they do face challenges, they can provide the ability to undertake the following:

•

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•

Record, measure, monitor and forecast carbon emissions within the organisation Report and comply with the growing number of legislative requirements Participate in carbon trading more efficiency and effectively

These CEMS tools can allow organisations to have greater awareness and be able to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their current processes and procedures and meet carbon emission challenges. This chapter discusses the practical aspects of the use of such CEMS tools. This chapter first outlines the three categories of CEMS tools. This is followed by a comparative analysis of the various advantages and limitations of each of these tools. Finally, this report outlines the way in which the CEMS software can be used in organisations. Challenges related to configuring and implementing the software are discussed from a practical viewpoint. This chapter is based on the author’s experience including the author’s work tenure with IT research firm Hydrasight and IT sustainability firm Connection Research, coupled with a short research project undertaken for his Master’s level study, conducted as part of the Australian Computer Society’s Computer Professional Education Program.

WHAT IS CEMS? Carbon Emissions Management Emissions (CEMS) tools are, as defined by IT sustainability firm, Connection Research, as: ‘a specific application designed to measure and report on the carbon emissions of an organisation using a consistent, defensible and repeatable methodology.’ (Connection Research 2010 a)

Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice

PRACTICAL USE OF CEMS TOOLS There are various processes, procedures and tools that organisations can use that facilitate improved positioning and visibility on carbon emissions and these include Carbon Emission Management solutions (CEMS), custom-built spreadsheets, along with other customised varieties. Each can be implemented to support and address some of these challenges although they do each pose challenges of their own. Whilst they do face challenges, they can provide the ability to undertake the following: • • •

Record, measure, monitor and forecast carbon emissions within the organisation Report and comply with the growing number of legislative requirements Participate in carbon trading more efficiency and effectively

Record, Measure, Monitor and Forecast Carbon Emissions within the Organisation Recording and measuring carbon emissions or their ‘carbon footprint’, for many organisations, is by no means an easy feat. Many will find that they may have limited resources available and/ or expertise required to undertake the task sufficiently. Often, many find it difficult to know where the best place to start, to find the time, cost, and people that are knowledgeable or skilful enough to be able to cater for the information and data that needs to be collected and recorded, measured, monitored and reported for legislative requirements. Recording, measurement and monitoring is often required at individual, business, company and supply chain level depending on the size and type of organisation, including its products/ services. The ability to be able to check and examine the current carbon emission levels at a specific and more detailed level, such as determining the

type of carbon emission etc. may also be required. (Computerworld 2009) It is through ensuring that the recording, measurement and monitoring of carbon emissions is as accurate as possible that organisations will be able to see where they can potentially increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations. Often, organisations will find themselves using spreadsheets or looking to outsource carbon emissions management to specialists such as vendors.

Report and Comply with the Growing Number of Legislative Requirements There are often many legislative requirements that organisations need to adhere to. These include laws and regulations such as National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (NGERS), Greenhouse Gases (GHG) Protocol and National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) compliance to name a few. These growing legislative requirements will call for organisations to create reports to report on the amount of carbon emissions being produced by their organisations within specific key areas, as required by the legislative requirements. Since these reports would need to be quite adequate and be produced as required by the relevant legislative requirement, this will pose a challenge to organisations looking to remain constantly ‘compliant’. Often, organisations will look to obtain external support from available regulatory bodies and vendors for assistance in maintaining compliance.

Participating in Carbon Trading More Efficiency and Effectively The increasing focus from the Government on regulating the amount of carbon emissions within the various industries means there will be opportunities for organisations to accumulate and trade carbon trading credits. Being able to calculate the carbon trading credits accumulated and trade these effectively will pose a difficult challenge for the

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larger organisations who would find it difficult to calculate and manage manually, with challenging tasks such as establishing the means to accurately undertake this task. Often, organisations will look to obtain external support from available regulatory bodies and vendors who may offer consulting advice or CEMS tools for assistance in maintaining compliance.

Benefits of CEMS Tools CEMS tools allow organisations to have greater awareness and be able to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their current processes and procedures and meet carbon emission challenges. By having the processes, procedures and tools in place, an organisation should not only be able meet the challenges in relation to adhering to legislative requirements and to enable easier management of carbon credits to exchange in the carbon trading market but hopefully also identify where they can reduce costs and to minimise the amount of excess or wastage which can be rather prevalent within our society.

THREE CATEGORIES OF CEMS TOOLS While processes and procedures for carbon emissions management can be formulated and created within an organisation, this only forms the operational part of the solution. There are other solutions or tools that utilise information technology and complement and support these processes and procedures to help meet the needs and challenges faced by organisations discussed earlier, i.e. recording, measuring and monitoring carbon emissions; adhering to legislative requirements and facilitating carbon trading. (Waller 2010) These tools include the following:

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• • •

Carbon Emissions Management solutions (CEMS) tools Custom CEMS tool Custom-built spreadsheets

Each can be implemented to support and address some of these challenges although they do each pose challenges of their own, which we will discuss later on.

Carbon Emissions Management Solutions Tools Carbon Emissions Management solutions (CEMS) tools are software tools that help organisations manage their carbon emissions. The role of a CEMS tool is to assist and allow organisations in the management of carbon emissions including measuring, monitoring, and reporting to comply with various internal and legislative requirements. This includes facilitating the recording, measurement and monitoring which is often required at the individual, business, company and supply chain level depending on the size and type of organisation, including its products/ services. The ability to be able to check and examine the current carbon emission levels at a specific and more detailed level, such as determining the type of carbon emission etc. may also be required. The extent and level of recording, measurement and monitoring varies from industry to industry, specific requirements and the vendor that is providing the solution. Often, these levels are set by the legislative requirements; however, internal requirements may also play a role. Organisations may find that they are also able to investigate methods of improving the amount of carbon emissions based on the data produced as a result of using a carbon emissions management tool. The method of collecting data whether through automated rather than manual means can also

Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice

be facilitated by CEMS tools to ensure that data collected is as accurate and precise. CEMS tools are available to be implemented and hosted onsite by a client. However, increasingly, vendors are also offering their CEMS tools as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, where the vendor hosts the software for the customer to use remotely. This ‘eliminates the need for detailed in-house expertise and makes installing and running CEMS much more straightforward’ (Connection Research 2010 a) and can simplify the payback model through a ‘pay-as you-go model’. Connection Research 2010

Custom CEMS Tools Custom CEMS tools are much like CEMS tools, although they are instead developed in-house and are self-managed and maintained internally by an organisation’s own internal staff. This includes the ongoing monitoring of the recording and measurement and the inclusion of any specific functionality which is added onto the solution as required. This includes ensuring that the CEMS tool meets relevant legislative requirements. An example of an organisation currently using its own custom CEMS tool for managing its carbon emissions is large petroleum refinery, Exxon Mobil (Prismall, D, personal communication, November 11, 2009).

Custom-Built Spreadsheets Spreadsheets are used by some organisations in carbon emissions management to ensure that they meet their carbon emissions recording measurement, monitoring and reporting needs. This is generally managed using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, where a rough spreadsheet-based calculation may be all that is required to calculate their energy use for scope 2 emissions of the GHG Gas Protocol (Connection Research 2010 a). This spreadsheet may be internally custom-built or externally purchased from a vendor.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ADVANTAGE AND LIMITATIONS OF CEMS TOOLS Earlier we discussed the following different types of carbon emissions management solutions (CEMS) tools: • • •

Carbon Emissions Management solutions (CEMS) tools Custom CEMS tools Custom-built spreadsheets

While each can be implemented to support and address some of the challenges that can be faced by organisations, they do each pose challenges of their own. This section will discuss these advantages and limitations, and provide a comparative analysis of these variations including the features and functionalities available between the types of CEMS tools.

CEMS Tools Who Uses It? The CEMS tools are used by organisations that does not desire or have the expertise to provide the CEMS tools that will enable them to manage their carbon emissions. It is often used by organisations looking to leave it to the specialists to keep their carbon emissions management solution up-to-date with new laws and regulations and to continuing adding features and functionality that they may find useful. These is used by the majority of organisations as it provides them with the peace of mind that they should be fulfilling their legislative obligations and have access to the appropriate carbon emission reports.

Advantages and Limitations The primary advantage is that there is no need to have the expertise in-house to continuously

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maintain and monitor the CEMS tools; rather, time and effort can be spent on analysing the results produced. The limitation is that the CEMS tools may not provide the features and functionality that is desired or there may be extras that may not be required by the organisation. Expertise is also kept in the outsourcer and the organisation may become dependent on the direction of the vendor.

Custom-Built Spreadsheets Who Uses It?

Custom CEMS Tools

Organisations, generally the small-medium enterprises (SMEs), use spreadsheets to meet their carbon emissions recording measurement, monitoring and reporting needs. This is largely due to the level of carbon emissions data and information along with legislative requirements which are often lower than those of larger organisations.

Who Uses It?

Advantages and Limitations

The custom CEMS tools are often suited to a larger multinational organisation that may not only have the resources to create and maintain their own CEMS tools but to tailor it to their exact needs.

This is often the cheapest option as it allows an organisation to easily utilise and share spreadsheets without worrying about the need for software licenses. The method of data collection in these solutions is often manual based entries and rough estimates which can provide inconsistent or conflicting results over an extended period of time. Nonetheless, for some smaller organisations, it may be sufficient and there may be other non-CEMS (e.g. hardware based carbon emissions data collection tools) that may be instead used to minimise the manual collection of data. Excel spreadsheets, also ‘typically do not embody a consistent methodology and are rarely managed as an organisational information asset’ (Connection Research 2010 a) and often do not have the capabilities and usability to fulfill desired forecasting or other type of functionalities such as data manipulations for ‘what-ifs’ and scenario planning, more detailed analysis by levels, monitoring and flagging of progress, integration with finance systems, feeding off into carbon trading and offset planning systems. (Connection Research 2010 a)

Advantages and Limitations The custom CEMS tools provide the most control for an organisation but at a cost. As the CEMS tools will include features and functionality that the organisation has sought out to include in its solution, so no unnecessary extras need to be included and paid for. There is also the potential to achieve greater return-on-investment (ROI) through being able to utilise the benefits of creating an in-house solution that can be used at a multinational level. While a custom CEMS tools will serve to meet an organisations needs best, it is the initial and ongoing costs which may make this option unsuitable for most organisations. There will be significant amount of resources are requiring in planning, designing, testing, implementing and maintaining the custom CEMS tools, this results in costs, effort not to mention time, which often is quite limited and/or restricted for many organisations, including the need for specific project management, carbon emissions and regulatory expertise.

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Comparative Analysis of the Advantages and Limitations of CEMS Tools

CEMS TOOLS IN ORGANISATIONS

The advantages and limitations of the CEMS tools have been discussed and each of them should be judged on its merit and in relation to the size, context and type of organisation for which it would be utilised in. The following CEMS comparative analysis table (Table 1) is a detailed comparative analysis of each of the tools mentioned in relation to the features and functionality available. There are also online CEMS directories such as Connection Research’s CEMSUS directory (http://www.cemsus.com) that details the available CEMS tools provided by vendors in more detail.

CEMS tools or spreadsheets aim to facilitate the recording, measuring, monitoring, and forecasting carbon emissions within organisations, and allow organisations to report and comply with the growing number of legislative requirements. CEMS tools will also facilitate and/or assist in allowing organisations to participate in carbon trading more efficiency and effectively. The way in which CEMS tools are used in organisations will differ. Many organisations will begin to use CEMS tools simply to comply with standards and regulations and will simply look to these tools as a way to achieve that objective, while others with a more strategic and long term focus will look to maximise the strategic forecast-

Table 1. CEMS comparative analysis table Functionality/ Features

Description

Carbon Emissions Management solutions

Custom CEMS tools

Custom-built spreadsheets

Recording

Recording the amount of carbon emissions produced

Yes

Yes

Yes, but at a basic level

Measurement

Measurement the amount of carbon emissions produced

Yes

Yes

Yes, but at a basic level

Monitoring

Monitor the amount of carbon emissions produced

Yes. Some vendors can provide specific areas that carbon emissions are produced as well.

Yes

Yes, but at a basic level

Benchmarking/ baselining

To allow an organisation to identify where they stand in relation other organisations.

Yes. It also allows users to see where they stand with the client’s of the vendor as well.

Yes

No, however sometimes possible but will be difficult to compare with another organisation unless the spreadsheet is structured in a comparable manner.

Forecasting, trends, ‘what if’ scenario testing

Forecasting and predicting, simulating and anticipating trends

Yes

Yes

No

Analysis

Analysis of carbon emissions data

Yes

Yes

Yes, but manual

Planning capabilities

Planning for expected carbon emissions

Yes

Yes

Yes, but manual

Reporting

Reporting on carbon emissions

Yes

Yes

Yes, but manual

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ing and planning capabilities and the benefits that can bring to the business. Regardless of whether CEMS tools or spreadsheets are purchased from a vendor or not, organisations will look to have the following to ensure ongoing running of CEMS tools within their organisation. These are often provided by vendors to help organisations to reduce the complexities within carbon emissions management. This includes: • • •

• •

Keeping the CEMS tool up-to-date with legislative requirements and standards. Including features/ functionalities in the CEMS that the business units require. Manage minor and major updates to the CEMS tool including bug fixes, patches and software upgrades. Providing help desk support for the users of the CEMS tool. Produce reports from the CEMS tool on a regular and/or needs basis.

CHALLENGES IN CONFIGURING AND IMPLEMENTING CEMS TOOLS Much like selecting a product for an accounting or marketing department, finding and selecting the most suitable CEMS tool and vendor will pose a difficult challenge for all organisations. It is not only initial and ongoing implementation cost, time and effort, potential integration, configuration, implementation and resourcing issues but also examining over the long term how viable the solution and even the vendor may be. This section will discuss the challenges related to configuring and implementing a CEMS tool. Internal challenges: •

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A clear business sponsor – this is essential in order to have the appropriate backbone and support for the CEMS tool to be accepted within an organisation.

•

Insufficient resources – resources such as staff, money, and time need to be available to be able to direct and ensure the continuous running of the CEMS tool. External challenges:

•

•

Immaturity of vendors globally – This is a new and growing market, with more and more players joining offer carbon emissions management solutions. The CEMS tools offered may not be developed and matured as an organisation may require it to be. (Unhelkar 2009) Uncertainty of legislative/ compliance requirements – Governments are may set the direction of carbon emissions management in a certain way, however their direction may be dictated by other Governments around the world. (PR Log 2008) CEMS tool/ vendor challenges:

•

•

•

Anticipated life of CEMS tool– The anticipated lifetime of the product may be an issue as solutions evolve over time and that vendors may change their focus on various CEMS tools or on the requirements of this product. It may require organisations to change products or vendors, even though the vendor is still in business (just not in that particular product anymore). (Connection Research 2010 b) CEMS tool may be inaccessible if internet is down – Given that most CEMS tools are provided as a SaaS solution that is hosted on the vendor’s site. An inability to access the internet will prevent an organisation from being to access the CEMS software, this can consequently affect the recording, measurement, monitoring and reporting of carbon emissions data. Cost/ value – The cost and value of the CEMS tool may increase as more features

Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice

•

•

•

•

•

and functionality may be included which an organisation may or may not wish to have. The vendor may also be looking at taking advantage of the dependence on their product by an organisation. Integration issues – The CEMS tool may be difficult to integrate with the current systems in place which could be catered for in a custom built CEMS tool. Although it may be possible to customise the CEMS tool to integrate although there may be limitations as to how much it can be integrated. May need to customise vendors CEMS tool – If a CEMS tool needs to be customised, this takes time and resources to initially set up. Resources will be required to keep the CEMS product updated, particularly when bugs, patches or updates arise. It will be a different version from the generic one of the vendor, and so will have some unique problems that may be difficult to resolve. One size does not fit all – The organisation may find that the CEMS tool will be quite generic, since it may have been created for a different or foreign market and requires some customised to be adapted to the organisation that is using it. Potential value of additional capabilities – Not all features and functionalities that are paid for or are available may be utilised by an organisation, thereby, reducing in a waste of funds for something that isn’t used or needed. Skills and expertise availability – Although the problems of finding skills, knowledge and expertise internally is no longer a problem, the vendor may have difficultly sourcing, retaining and providing access to available resources that may be required at any given time. This can cause problems and possible delays if there are projects or dependencies on these resources, as often vendors will have more than one client

•

•

with similar resourcing demands. Users will also need to be trained in how to use the CEMS tool. Vendor sets direction– Vendors will dictate where the product that they provide will go. No doubt, there will be times, particularly for larger organisations there will be opportunity to have a say as to where and what features and functionalities that they would like to have included with the product, for the smaller customers this may not be the case. Vendor viability (i.e. the vendor may go out of business) – this is always an issue with all vendors; however it is unlikely for the major players. Should the vendor go out of business, then the solution will no doubt become outdated and a new solution may need to be selected.

FUTURE DIRECTION OF CEMS TOOLS Over the next decade, the carbon emissions management software and services market is expected to achieve a growth of approximately 40 percent compounded annual growth rate through 2017 (Environmental Leader 2010, PackWorld.com 2010), particularly as uncertainty should fade around the direction of new climate change and carbon emissions laws and regulations around the world. Despite the current uncertainty surrounding climate change direction, ‘individual governments, stakeholder and consumer pressure will continue to drive businesses to adopt more sustainable operations’ (Business Green 2010). Since businesses will be encouraged to stay ahead of the crowd and move towards looking at ICT means such as CEMS tools to assist in carbon emissions management and to ensure that they can meet carbon emissions targets (eWeekEurope 2009, Framingham 2009, Europa 2009). This influx of

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interest may be driven from tighter enforcement of carbon emissions targets regulations along with self-interest in ensuring that their organisation can way the flag saying that they too are ‘environmentally friendly’, and will drive and encourage new vendors to develop and/or push their CEMS tools into this growing market. All the while, larger vendors not already in the market will look at entering and positioning themselves by offering their own CEMS product or acquiring an organisation that is already offering a solution, thereby creating competition which will inspire new features and functionality in CEMS tools. Old vendors may look at merging with others to better position themselves against these threats. (Green IT Strategy 2009) Vendors and organisations will continue to discover more innovative ways of recording, measuring, monitoring, forecasting and reporting on carbon emissions, incorporating more effective and efficient carbon trading features and functionalities. Furthermore, there will be growth in the number of organisations looking to form alliances and integrate information systems at the supply chain level including carbon emissions management. Using CEMS tools will become the new norm and a standard part of business, just as the accounting or marketing based tools are.

REFERENCES Brussels (2009). Commission pushes ICT use for a greener Europe, EUROPA - European Commission. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction. do?reference=IP/09/393 Carbon Navigator. (2010). Carbon Navigator. TradeSlot. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www.carbonnavigator.com/

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Commonwealth of Australia. (2007). National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting.Department of Climate Change. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from http://www.climatechange.gov.au/reporting Connection Research. (2010a). Carbon Emissions Management Software: A new global industry. Connection Research. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www.mygazines.com/issue/4128 (Connection Research is now Envirability Research) Connection Research. (2010 b). CEMSUS - Carbon Emissions Management Software Census. Connection Research. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www.cemsus.com (Connection Research is now Envirability Research) Dang, A. (2009). Countdown to Copenhagen 2009: Carbon emission management software, Computerworld. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http:// www.computerworld.com.au/article/328046/ countdown_copenhagen_2009_carbon_emission_management_software/ Environmental Expert. (2010). Environmental Expert - The Environmental Industry Online. Environmental Expert. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www.environmental-expert. com/index.aspx Environmental Leader. (2010). Carbon Management Software and Services to Grow 40% Annually Through 2017. Environmental Leader. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www. environmentalleader.com/2010/01/19/carbonmanagement-software-and-services-to-grow-40annually-through-2017/ eWeekEurope (2009). Japan Most Likely To Cut Emissions Using ICT. eWeekEurope. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.eweekeurope. co.uk/news/japan-most-likely-to-cut-emissionsusing-ict-2724

Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice

Foster, P. (2009). The UK government’s green IT Progress, The Green IT Report. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.thegreenitreview. com/2009/09/uk-governments-green-it-progress. html

Waller, A. (2010). Carbon emissions - carbon formula, AccountancyAge. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.accountancyage. com/accountancyage/features/2256121/carbonemissions-carbon-formula

Framingham, M. (2009). IDC Readies ICT Sustainability Index Ahead of United Nations’ COP15 Climate Change Conference. IDC. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.idc.com/getdoc. jsp?containerId=prUS22091709

Wirth, B. (2009). And 60 makes Carbon Emission Management Software Tally, Green IT Strategy. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www. greenitstrategy.com/news/2-software

Log, P. R. (2008). Letter from Australia - Carbon Emissions Management. PR Log. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.prlog. org/10153635-letter-from-australia-carbon-emissions-management.html Mohan, A. (2010). Carbon management market to grow 73% in 2010. PackWorld.com. Retrieved January 21, 2010 from http://www.packworld. com/webonly-29015 Muncaster, P. (2010). Tech firms ramping up green IT projects. Business Green. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www.businessgreen.com/ v3/news/2256452/tech-firms-ramping-green NABERS. (2010). NABERS. NABERS. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from http://www.nabers.com. au/ Prismall, D. (2009). Interviewed by Vu Long Tran, Exxon Mobil. November 11, 2009 Tran, V. (2009). Re: Thread for Discussion Question 3, ACS Education. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://education.acs.org.au/mod/forum/post. php?reply=39934 Unhelkar, B. (2009). Assignment 3 Submission feedback, ACS Education. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://education.acs.org.au/mod/ assignment/view.php?id=12494

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS CEMS: Carbon Emission Management solutions are software tools that are designed to record, measure, monitor, forecast and/or report on carbon emissions GHG: The emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHG), often carbon emissions NGERS: The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (the NGER Act) introduced a national framework for the reporting and dissemination of information about the greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas projects, and energy use and production of corporations NABERS: National Australian Built Environment Rating System is a performance-based rating system for existing buildings. ROI: Return-on-investment is the amount of return, generally in tangible terms on an investment made. SaaS: Software-as-a-Service is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over the Internet. SME: Small-medium enterprises are organisations with a small number of employees, generally from 20-250 employees.

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Chapter 34

Green Health:

The Green IT Implications for Healthcare & Related Businesses Nina Godbole IBM India Pvt. Ltd., India

ABSTRACT Healthcare is a rapidly growing domain covering wide areas of business activities including those in hospitals, pharmacies, insurance, health administration and related supporting services. In an environmentally conscious world, healthcare is being increasingly compared with other industries in terms of the carbon footprint generation. This chapter starts with a broad overview of the healthcare industry from an environmental perspective and then discusses the stakeholders involved, use of ICT in healthcare, and the relative size of the carbon footprint generated in the sector. The emphasis in this chapter is to bring to the fore the elements in healthcare sector that affect the environment and the potential application of Green ICT to address.

INTRODUCTION The healthcare industry, including hospitals, pharmacies, insurance, health administration and related supporting services, is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy globally. This is so because of population growth, demands from an aging population and increasing sophistication in modes of treatments. Thus, advances in medical technologies serve to increase expectations which provides further stimulus to growth in the DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch034

healthcare industry. Taking a holistic view of the health care industry and the challenges faced, this chapter looks at the healthcare industry and how the application of Green ICT can help address key issues in the industry.

ASPECTS OF THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY Worldwide, the healthcare sector is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy and it deals with the most valuable assets of our

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economy, namely people. Healthcare is already a mammoth industry; it is globally valued to be worth USD 6 trillion. According to Kalorama’s market study,[Kalorama, Wireless Opportunities in Healthcare. Kalorama Information, 2007] USA healthcare spending alone was USD 2.3 trillion in 2007, with 8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). According to the estimates by Frost & Sullivan (2009), the global healthcare market ended at about US$1.06 trillion and the sector is expected this to reach to US$1.16 trillion in 2010. The healthcare industry has some unique aspects to it that influence its environmental footprint. These include: •

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Service provider selects for the customer – In contrast to many other markets where customers make the buying decisions, in healthcare the service provider (the doctor or pharmacist) often makes many decisions on behalf of the customer (the patient). Little choice of where services are purchased – Customers often choose where they wish to purchase services but in healthcare, the customer (patient), especially those having a sudden health problem, either goes to a local serviced provider or is just taken to the nearest outlet. Little say in purchasing decisions - Once in a hospital, doctors often decide on the management plan, define which diagnostic tests are required, determine what kind of treatment or medicines to receive, whether to go for an operation and determine the length of stay. Whilst significant efforts are made to advise and consult patients, the purchasing decisions are effectively made by the doctor. Subsidised market – From subsidised prescriptions through to bulk billing for visits to general practitioners, market forces are heavily influenced by subsidies. Directed buying decisions - The market for pharmaceuticals is different in that many

•

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consumers do not make their buying decisions. They buy medicines as suggested by their doctors. Regulation – The regulations around healthcare are often very strong and a heavy regulatory overhead with extensive reporting, often at many levels, prevails. Supplier dependency – Patient care decisions are heavily dependent upon the diagnostics, quality assurance and accuracy of test results provided by other suppliers (logistics chain), i.e. a greater criticality is seen within the logistics chain within healthcare than many other industries. Indemnity exposure – The liability exposure and related insurances needs are somewhat unique within the healthcare industry. Market distortion and moral hazard – The healthcare market maybe more open to distortion. Consider health insurance. Since insurance-holders do not pay their medical bills directly, there is relatively less involvement from the patients in terms of the financial implications of their choices. The potential to take advantage of the insurance by patients exists and due to commercial pressures, service providers may order additional services for those insured over those with little or no insurance.

Challenges faced by the healthcare industry include: •

•

Rising need for healthcare services – An aging population brings with it the challenge of maintaining quality of life against an increasing prevalence of conditions such as diabetes, cancer and obesity. Escalating cost pressures – The need for global cost containment is forcing pharmaceutical firms to demonstrate value, creating demand for financial controls and operational efficiencies.

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Increasing technical advances – Advances in molecular biology offer not only the potential of new therapies – possibly tailored to the individual – but also offer the potential for the rejuvenation of the healthcare industry through the development of new business models and strategies.

As the healthcare industry becomes increasingly resource-constrained options such as outsourcing (Roberts V.2001) and medical tourism (Lingarchani, 2009) are being utilised. One further aspect of the healthcare sector is the regulatory framework. Hospitals are subject to a myriad requirements to protect public health and the environment from the waste generated from their activities. Environmental policies for the healthcare sector are based on comprehensive analysis of the contributing elements such as energy usage, building design from green perspective, water pollution (use of chemicals and possible toxicants used in hospitals for example), air pollution (use of chemicals and possible toxicants during drug manufacture processes) and land pollution by way of leakages into the ground. Such policies are becoming an important supplement to traditional approaches to environmental protection. In the healthcare sector, environmental regulatory agencies are beginning to embrace strict and comprehensive governance to facility permitting, compliance assurance, education/outreach, research, and regulatory development issues. The central thinking that drive such policies is based on the consideration to the pollutant released to each environmental medium (air, water and land) and their negative impact on the environment.

THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT In the United States alone, environmental footprint issues include:

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Healthcare ranks as the country’s second most energy intensive industry, spending more than $6.5 billion each year while experiencing double-digit cost increases. (http://www.premierinc.com/about/eventseducation/newsletters/nexus/08-updates/ carbon-footprint072208.jsp) Hospitals, including their buildings, infrastructures, pre- and post-operative care and people-process-technologies are the healthcare sector’s largest energy consumer and producer of greenhouse gases (GHG). The healthcare industry’s reliance on nonrenewable energy sources contributes to the emission of GHG, driving climate change and impacting public health from air pollution. (healthcare industry’s reliance on non-renewable energy sources contributes to the emission of GHG,) The healthcare industry has a challenging issue to handle in terms of toxic substance disposal and its correlation to GHSs. This issue arises due to the stringent requirements in terms of bio-waste disposal as well as the pharmaceuticals and other chemicals that are specific to the medical industry and that need proper and safe disposal.

Waste from within the health services industry and related services need specific mention here. These areas that generate waste which, in turn, needs to be handled with environmental consciousness include the following: •

Information Services (IS) – there is a huge reliance on computers and electronic technologies for all levels of functions in the healthcare industry and it is growing at a rapid pace. IS might be responsible for managing portable electronic devices and repairing or disposing of dysfunctional or older equipment including computers and monitors.

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•

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Purchasing – involves those products that are handled by shipping and receiving and are bought through the purchasing department. Waste from this department mostly consists of paper and paper-products. Pallets, shrink wrap, and cardboard and also included in this waste category; Food Services – medical/healthcare facilities create use a large number and amount of food ingredients. These facilities store and use numerous chemical cleaners/perseveration materials. If “pest” control is not contracted out, a number of pest control devices and chemicals can also be present. Additionally, chlorofluorocarbons might be present in freezer and refrigeration units. Special wastes, such as kitchen grease from fryalators need separate collection and disposal to avoid drain disposal or disposal as a “solid” waste. Drain disposal of wastewater from dishwashing and food preparation must also be monitored to avoid excess grease, harsh chemicals, or an excessive amount of organic substances from being discharged to the sanitary sewer; Pharmacy Services – are essential services; they include the compounding and dispensing of pharmaceuticals. As they are received and prepared, large quantities of paper and plastic waste from product packaging and inserts are generated. Administering pharmaceuticals to patients and the resulting residual waste can take place in any number of clinical areas within a healthcare setting, including patient care floors, surgical suites, and freestanding clinic settings. Pharmaceuticals can also be packaged for administration in home-care settings. There are a number of common pharmaceuticals that are listed as RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 1976 (RCRA) http://www. epa.gov/oecaerth/civil/rcra/medwastereq.

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html), P- or U- listed waste and many others that meet the criteria for RCRA characteristic waste. The pharmacy function may take place in one central location, may be off site, or may have a number of satellite sites throughout a facility. Of particular importance is the management of the large amounts of expired, unused, or partially used pharmaceuticals, the control of chemotherapeutic agents, and management of contaminated materials and containers, as well as residual or bulk amounts of chemotherapy product. Drug classes to be concerned about include: antineoplastics (toxic, mutagenic, persistent, accumulative), steroids (persistent, reproductive effects), antibiotics (persistent, bacterial resistance), antifungal (toxic, mutagenic, target organs, endocrine effects), antiviral (toxic, mutagenic, chronic effects), vaccines with thimerosal (contains mercury), and contrast reagents (with barium); Biomedical Engineering - this service function provides support to the many types of equipment and devices used in providing direct patient care and support services. Biomedical engineering can be an in-house function or a contracted service with environmental impacts. Often, a mercury sphygmomanometer and/or barometer is used to aid in calibration. Biomedical engineering often handles the increasingly large quantity of batteries (including NiCD, NiHydride, Lead acid, Lithium, dry cell) that have to be tested and changed out in many different types of equipment. Engineering and Maintenance - these functions and the scope of this service is defined differently in different settings. Often, there is overlap between the housekeeping staff, maintenance staff, and engineering staff duties. Maintenance functions, including painting, electrical work, plumbing, and carpentry, are sometimes

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internal functions with full shop areas in place to provide these services. Solvents, degreasers, cleaners, oil paints, and a number of toxic and often flammable products are regularly used, stored, and disposed of. Large amounts of chemicals are required in maintaining the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) and water treatment systems, boilers, and coolers. Monitoring systems for air emissions and water discharges must be maintained. Staff serving in these functions also is often responsible for changing out lighting fixtures and bulbs, generating waste fluorescent bulbs and lighting ballasts. Mercury management is often a primary concern in this service, as mercury is often found in devices throughout the facility in thermostats, mercuric oxide batteries, switches and relays in alarms and other electrical equipment, gauges and switches on boilers, as well as in additives to paints, cleaners, and other chemicals. (Godbole, 2010), Waste Treatment – there may be technologies on site and in operation to treat the facility wastes. These technologies could range from wastewater pre-treatment, to an incinerator (solid and bio-hazardous waste), to an autoclave (bio-hazardous waste) to distillation units for solvents, alcohols, and formalin (usually located in conjunction with the lab) and to bulb crushers (fluorescent bulbs). Emissions (primarily air) are of concern with all of these, as is residual waste. Additionally, the treatment and disposal process may convert some materials that are nonhazardous into hazardous waste. Incineration of PVC plastics, products, and packaging (which comprise a portion of plastic wastes in healthcare) can create dioxins when incinerated. Many facilities collect bio-hazardous waste in bright coloured bags (typically red or yellow) and similar

coloured containers for sharps and chemotherapy wastes. The colors in these containers can be from cadmium-based pigments, although the use of cadmium has been phased out in recent years. Cadmium, a hazardous air pollutant, can be released if these containers are combusted as part of the treatment process. The above points indicates the areas within the healthcare that need specific attention in terms of waste generation, recycling and disposal. The need to incorporate people-process-technologies in each of these areas from a sustainability viewpoint is obvious. The next section discusses the people and processes that can be optimized to reduce their environmental effect.

STAKEHOLDERS, PLAYERS AND VALUE CHAIN IN HEALTHCARE Three critical components are identified in the healthcare industry: •

•

•

Delivering the healthcare service - such as connecting the registered physicians with the health service networks, connecting the employees seeking services to the hospitals who can provide those healthcare services. The integrated systems associated with delivery - such as integrating the benefits administration to the healthcare service delivery. Administration activities - such as transaction processing, insurance claims processing and information management.

These components are as shown in Figure 1. Like most other businesses in today’s globalized era, there are ‘interconnected entities’ giving rise to the ‘extended enterprise’ phenomenon in the healthcare sector, as shown in Figure 1. Each of these entities have a relationship with the

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Figure 1. Healthcare service: Critical components & stakeholders

other entity and that relationship is dictated by processes and communications technologies. Modeling these relationships, the service-calls (technically) and then optimizing them is the best way to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment. For example, physicians need to relate the healthcare networks and to other employees. This relationship needs to be modeled using a process map, studied and optimized. Furthermore, relevant metrics and measurements can be brought in within these processes to understand their carbon impact.

•

ROLE OF GREEN ICT IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR

•

As with many other industries, ICT is playing a transformational role and the ability to adopt ICT to provide better service, to lower costs and address environmental issues exists. Key areas in the healthcare domain that can benefit by the study and application of Green ICT include:

Computer-based patient records: These records, also known as Electronic Patient Record (EPR) need to be stored centrally and made available to hospitals and surgeries where the patient is being treated. The amount of data that is stored associated with the EPR, as well as the frequency of access requires the data modelers and implementers to consider the Green ICT implications. Repetition of data, positioning it remotely for centralized access, the speed of access and the security and privacy of data are some of the issues to be considered here. Hospital information systems: These are the typical management information systems that provide administrative and management control over the operation of the hospital. These systems need to be considered from not only their own efficiency and effectiveness point of view, but also the way in which they can assist in improving the flow of information and knowledge within and around the hospital. An efficient

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hospital information system will translate into a greener hospital by its very nature. Computer-based decision support tools: These can be the knowledge management systems and the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems that enable the administrators and decision makers of the hospital to take optimum decisions. These systems can come in extremely handy when large scale mobilization of people and equipment is required to handle emergencies. Even without emergencies, the decision support systems can help improve the environmental credentials of a hospital by reducing unnecessary people and equipment movement and, instead, concentrating it in the right place. Community health information networks: These are social networks that can be formed and supported by information and communications technologies. Such health networks reduce the overall costs to the hospital sector and to the community. Community health can take the macro view of health in the general populace. Considering the most efficient ways to hygiene, people movement, schools sector and overseas travels can all be part of this network and, in turn, reduce their environmental effect. Telemedicine: This emerging combination of telecomm services together with medical services has tremendous potential to reduce people movements and thereby not only reduce environmental impact but also improve provision of timely services. With the help of telemedicine, it is possible to not have to fly a surgeon to a particular location where the patient is. Instead, remote diagnosis as well as advise to a junior doctor can play a significant role in reducing the environmental impact of people movement.

•

Mobile technologies: These technologies, characterized by personalization and location independence, enable provision of medical services by the patient’s bedside. As a result, mobile technologies need to be investigated in detail from an environmental perspective (see Unhelkar, 2010).

As is now obvious with the above discussion, previous distinctions between clinical health information and administrative health information are gradually eroding. With the emergence of new healthcare delivery patterns that are supported by, and in some cases reliant on, the widespread use of networked computers and telecommunications, the need to consider the impact of these technologies on environment is vital. The above section discussed these technologies from two specific points: the environmental impact of the use of these technologies in the first place, and the potential of these technologies to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare processes in the second.

MOBILE AND WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES IN THE HEALTH SECTOR As mentioned above, clinical health information and administrative health information are gradually synergizing. AS a result, ICT and mobile technologies are set to have a significant impact on healthcare sector (Unhelkar 2010), including its impact on the environment. The development of portable and wireless technologies that enables mobile health is perceived to have considerable benefits in the future for both patients and healthcare professionals. Some of the benefits include rapid access to information about a medicine, a condition, a patient; less time on hold for consumers; streamlining clinical trials to bring a drug to market sooner; real-time patient monitoring from remote locations; and, telemedi-

Green Health

cine for rural areas. According to Kalorama (2005) the total market for wireless technologies in U.S. healthcare was USD 1.8 billion and is expected to grow annually at 33% through 2010, reaching a total market size of USD 7.3 billion. Such increasing adoption of technology to support mobile healthcare systems inevitably creates safety as well as environmental issues. Wireless applications in healthcare can be categorized as either applications for monitoring for patients’vital body part functioning or patient communication and supporting applications. Monitoring applications can use portable, wearable or implantable sensors and work automatically. The communication applications provide patients with information and feedback directly and encourage them to take an active role in managing their health. While these ICT developments sound good, there are detrimental effects on the environment created by the radiation from excessive use of wireless. The health of patients is affected both by the applications of wireless technology and by the devices’ impact on the body. For example, proliferation of the devices in hospital environments can result in interactions and interference (http://131.193.153.231/www/ issues/issue8_8/critical/index.html). The effect of EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) in the hospital environment has been noted as an issue. There are various types of transmitting and EMI-radiating devices typically found within healthcare settings such as wireless telemetry equipment, nurse call systems, wireless in-house phone systems, two-way pagers, patients’ electric razors, two-way radios, microwave ovens, fluorescent lighting, in addition to Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) and Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). These devices add to the complexity of radio-frequency devices (some of them could be the wide applications of RFID tags in hospitals). Given the large number of devices (wireless and non-wireless) operating in the average healthcare facilities’ bandwidth spectrum,

occasional interference between devices is to be expected. Even when devices do not operate in the same bandwidth, harmonic and inter-modulation or sum and difference interference can occur intermittently, making detection difficult. In terms of impact on patients in the healthcare domain, use of such ICTs pose patients to the risk of possible malfunction of medical equipment due to the EMI. [Healthcare 2007]

FUTURE DIRECTIONS Further investigations into the impact of new and emerging processes, especially technical processes such as the collaborations enabled through Web Services (WS) are a rich area of investigations in healthcare section. Furthermore, similar to the safe disposal of an electronic equipment such as a television or a desktop computer, there is also a need to further investigate the safe disposal of bio-waste such as cancerous body parts, chemicals used in cleaning the hospitals and drugs used in treatment of patients. Since the pharmaceutical industry has to undertake large scale experimentation and testing over a prolonged period of time, that area also needs to be further investigated from its carbon generation viewpoint.

CONCLUSION Healthcare and the resulting healthcare industry can improve service delivery, lower costs and address environment footprint through the application of Green ICT. Significant gains can be seen through single-sourcing and linking of patient records to the extended supply and patient management chain. Tele-presence with the ability to operate remotely as well as access support and information will also be a key area. The extended use of mobile technologies for a range of tasks from patient monitoring through

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to inventory management, which single source information is also likely to be a major activity. It is hoped, through the discussion in this chapter, that additional attention will be paid to the various areas of healthcare industry that generate carbon through their activities. Reducing the impact of healthcare on the environment will also result in efficient and effective healthcare processes.

REFERENCES Boulder Community Foothills Hospital. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.bch.org/aboutbch/foothillshospital.cfm/Environmental%20Impact Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.cape.ca/ greening.html Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.greenhealthcare.ca Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.raconline.org/pdf/cah_bibliography.pdf

EPA Office of Compliance Sector Notebook Project Profile of the Healthcare Industry Chapters I. II and III. (February 2005), EPA/310-R-05-002, Office of Compliance Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (MC 2224-A) Washington, D.C. 20460, accessed at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/ resources/publications/assistance/sectors/notebooks/health.html Germain, S. (n.d.). Study of the Ecological Footprint of Lions Gate Hospital. Retrieved from www.c2p2online.com/documents/Lionsgate.pdf Godbole, (2010). EWast management-challenges and issues. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.) Handbook of research in green ict. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Green Guide for Healthcare Sector. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gghc.org/faq.cfm Health Care Without Harm. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.noharm.org

Department of Health. (2006/07). Retrieved from http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes/2006/q2/kh07_y00.html

Mathews, M. (2003). Best Practices in Healthcare Information Security for HIPAA Compliance: A guide for care delivery organizations and health plans. Retrieved from http://www.ctg.com/PDF/ BPHCHC_WP_0903.qxd_new.pdf

Department of Health. (2010).Retrieved from http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/waiting times/2006/q2/ kh07_y00.html

Rise in Medical Tourism to India. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://healthcareindia-drruchibhatt.blogspot. com/2008_05_11_archive.html

Environmental Management at St. Mary’s General Hospital. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.smgh. ca/~Environmental/environmental.asp

Roberts, V. (2001), Managing strategic outsourcing in the healthcare industry. J Healthc Manag. 46(4), 239-49. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/11482242

Environmental Requirements for hospitals(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www. epa.gov/region02/healthcare/ca.htm?cm_ sp=ExternalLink-_-Federal-_-EPA

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Sustainable Hospitals. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.sustainablehospitals.org/cgi-bin/DB_Index. cgi

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Unhelkar, B. (2010). Mobile Enterprise Transition and Managemen. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis. Waiting List for Diagnostic Services. Department of Health, UK (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www. performance.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes/2006/q2/ kh07_y00.html, Lingarchani, A., (2009), Extending Collaborative Business Model with Mobility and its Implementation in the Medical Tourism Industry. In Unhelkar, B.,(Ed.) Handbook of Research in Mobile Business. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS GHG: (Green House Gases) HIPAA: (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) HMO: Health Maintenance Organizations ICT: Information and Communication Technologies IDN: Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs) PHI: Protected Health Information TPA: Trading Processing Agents

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Chapter 35

E-Waste Management: Challenges and Issues Nina Godbole IBM India Pvt. Ltd, India

ABSTRACT Electronic Waste (e-Waste) is a major concern given the negative effects it creates on our environment. Huge quantities of e-Waste are generated every year and the rate is expected to rise in our digital economy. There are regulations and laws around e-Waste; however for its effective enforcement, all the relevant stakeholders need to come together to enforce the laws and regulations. In this chapter, the author describe the e-Waste problem, the challenges and issues involved and finally, present the life-cycle approach (cradle-to-grave) and finally, the author present a policy framework for effective e-Waste management.

INTRODUCTION TO E-WASTE Electronic Waste (‘e-Waste’) is any litter created by discarded electronic devices and components as well as discarded and degenerating substances involved in their manufacture or use. e-Waste is the catch all term for ‘electronic waste’ that covers televisions, cell phones, microwaves, VCRs/DVD players, computer parts and monitors, printers, cables, batteries, CDs/DVDs, and much more. The other terms for e-Waste are or ‘electronic waste’ or ‘waste of electronic goods’ or WEE (waste DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch035

from electrical and electronic equipment). e-Waste ‘is now recognized as the fastest growing waste stream in the industrialized world’. The total annual volume of e-waste is soon expected to reach 40 million metric tones (Ashley, MacDonald, Amos, 2008) –. The three major groups in which electronic waste contributors can be categorized are: computers, mobile phones and television sets. Environmentally responsible use of computers (Green Computing) and related resources includes practices such as the implementation of energy-efficient central processing units (CPUs), servers and peripherals as well as reduced resource consumption resulting in the emerging

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E-Waste Management

Figure 1. Home computers obsolescence: 1997 to 2007 (Source: “Mandated Recycling of Electronics: A Lose-Lose-Lose Proposition” by Dana Joel Gattuso, Issue Analysis 2005 No. 2, Competitive Enterprise Institute, February 2005, http://cei. org/pdf/4386.pdf. (Obtained the Permission to use this Graphics, See mail at yahoo from Ivan Osorio, [email protected]))

IT practices such ‘virtualization’ and ‘server consolidation’ and proper disposal of electronic waste. For the discussion, in this chapter, ‘green computing’ includes the ‘after life’ consideration about the harmful environmental effect of these products after they are discarded and also to bring in the ‘total life cycle’ approach (i.e. end-to-end) to e-Waste management thinking. Life cycle of electronic products spans from procurement/acquisition/manufacturing of the electronic products to their disposal. To illustrate the e-Waste issue, the rising volumes of e-Waste generated for the computer category alone (due to rapid technological obsolesce), is seen in Figure 1 and the estimated quantity of e-Waste generated by a typical household is shown in Table 1. This chapter investigates the challenges and issues faced by organizations dealing with electronic waste, particularly from an entire lifecycle of e-Waste perspective (Figure 2).

Table 1. Estimated quantity of electronic waste generated by a typical household http://www.hearusnow.org/fileadmin/sitecontent/HUN_WP_eWaste_4-14-05.pdf - Consumers Union White Paper titled “Electronic Waste: Finding Sustainable Solutions that Work Better for Consumers” Product

Approx Replacement Frequency (Years)

Number per Household

Total Units over 20 Years

Cell phone

€€€€€2

€€€€€2

€€€€€20

Computer

€€€€€3

€€€€€1.5

€€€€€10

Television

€€€€€8

€€€€€2.6

€€€€€7

Compact Disk Player

€€€€€6

€€€€€2

€€€€€7

Printer

€€€€€4

€€€€€1.4

€€€€€7

PDA, Palm pilot, or MP3 player

€€€€€6

€€€€€1

€€€€€3

VCR/DVD

€€€€€5

€€€€€1.7

€€€€€7

Cordless telephone

€€€€€7

€€€€€1.5

€€€€€4

Answering Machine

€€€€€6

€€€€€1

€€€€€3

Estimated total number of units over 20 years: 68

The health hazards due to e-waste are also discussed, together with the legal/regulatory and social frameworks applicable for governing ewaste. Best practices for the management of eWaste, the regulatory compliance angle and standards aspects are reviewed, including the use of green metrics and how e-Waste cannot be calculated directly from the power bill of the company. Instead, a focus on the design, development, procurement and decommissioning of the equipment which eventually becomes e-Waste is proposed, including the separation of the carbon generation during the ‘active’ i.e. in use phase of these equipments, vis-à-vis the carbon impact when equipment (which were otherwise perfectly good and in working order) are discarded.

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Figure 2. Conceptual life cycle of EEE/e-Waste

E-WASTE - WHAT DOES IT CONTAIN? The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (http://www.oecd. org) has defined electrical and electronic waste as “any appliance that uses an electrical supply which has reached its end-of-life.”, e.g. personal computers, televisions, cell phones, and numerous other consumer products. Figure 3 depicts what e-Waste is in terms of ‘electronic waste’ and electric waste’. Improved technological advances and high demand have allowed these products to be rapidly produced at lower prices, enabling increased consumption of electronic products nationally. For example, although personal computers only make up a fraction of all e-waste, they are especially subject to rapid obsolescence (Figure 1) due to technological improvements that cause companies to market new and improved models every few months. e-Waste contains toxic substances, e.g. lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, plastics - including PVC, BFRs (Brominated Flame Retardants) - other metals like barium and beryllium and carcinogens such as carbon black, phosphor and various heavy metals

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(Figure 4). Such a cocktail can cause serious, even fatal, health problems for those who have to handle the waste. Hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment and generally exhibits one or more of these characteristics: carcinogenic, ignitable. Many potentially toxic substances are seen in a Figure 3. What is e-waste (Re-drawn based the data and original graphic available at the URL http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section002group3/ files/what_is_e-waste.png (accessed 2nd Nov 09))

E-Waste Management

Figure 4. Computers – what do they contain (composition-wise) [Redrawn using the graphics in the article “Computer Industry Impacts on the Environment and Society” posted by the University of Michigan, at the URL http://sitemaker.umich. edu/section002group3/e-waste (accessed 2nd Nov 2009)]

personal computer (see Figure 5 and Figure 6). There may be lead in the cathode ray tube (CRT) and soldering compound, mercury in switches and housing, and cobalt in steel components. Figure 4 shows what is typically contained in computers; relate this to what was mentioned about ‘hazardous waste’.

WHY E-WASTE IS A PROBLEM? According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than four million tons of e-waste goes to U.S. landfills each year [the Fact Sheet on Management of Electronic Waste in the United States accessed at http://www.epa. gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/docs/ fact7-08.pdf] Therefore, e-Waste requires a carefully thought out approach for its disposal that goes way beyond the conventional view that once its Figure 5. Toxic substances contained in a central processing unit and CRT monitor (Source - the GAO 2008 report No. GAO-08-1044 on electronic waste titled ‘EPA Needs to Better Control Harmful U.S. Exports through Stronger Enforcement and More Comprehensive Regulation’ and the thoughts expressed in the article ‘Poison PCs and Toxic TVs’, accessed at the URL http://svtc.svtc.org/site/DocServer/ppcttv1.pdf?docID=124 (12th October 2009) and the information available in the background document on Recycling Waste from Computers accessed 1st January 2010 at the link http://environment.gov.ab.ca/ info/library/6205.pdf - reproduced here with permission from Chuck Young, GAO Public Affairs))

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Figure 6. Toxic Substances Contained in other Parts of Computers Reproduced with permission from GAO (Government Accountability Office) Source - the GAO 2008 report No. GAO-08-1044 on electronic waste titled ‘EPA Needs to Better Control Harmful U.S. Exports through Stronger Enforcement and More Comprehensive Regulation’ available at the link http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d081044.pdf accessed 3rd November 2009 – reproduced here with permission from Chuck Young, GAO Public Affairs)

handed over to another company it is no longer ‘my problem’. Consumer electronics are increasingly and ‘conveniently’ treated as disposable items. Companies create this consumer climate by constantly marketing new technologies, rendering fairly recent products obsolete. In a milieu such as just described, we wish to emphasize the ‘life cycle’ issue involved in the management of e-Waste problem. According to the e-Waste in India Report Summary 1 of the nearly 8 million PCs (personal computers) in India, 2 million are either of the generation represented by the chip Intel 486 or lower. Upgrading beyond a point becomes uneconomical and incompatible with new software and then it results in a vast amount of hardware getting added to the waste stream over a period of time. According to a report (IRG Systems South Asia Pvt. Ltd, 2007) published in 2007 by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Mumbai and Pune fall under the top ten cities that are gen-

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erating maximum quantities and Mumbai alone generates maximum among all the cities of India. Total WEEE waste generation in Maharashtra is 20270.6 tons, out of this Navi Mumbai contributes 646.48 tons, Greater Mumbai 11017.06 tons, Pune 2584.21 tons and Pimpri-Chinchwad 1032.37 tons. Computing electronics, such as a hard disk, has additional risks of privacy and security associated with the confidential and sensitive data that could exist on these disks. e-Waste is, thus, a serious problem from many dimensions. As technology quickly develops, people get into the habit of constantly acquiring new equipment and stop using their old equipment. However, they are not necessarily trained into the culture of recycling the used electronic waste or its proper disposal. An electronic product may contain more than 1,000 different substances (some of them depicted in Figure 4 and Figure 5), some of which can be harmful to human and environmental health. E-waste contains a number of toxins, including:

E-Waste Management

Table 2. e -Waste generation in Developed European Countries [http://www.ewaste.ch/facts_and_figures/ statistical/quantities/] Country

Total E-waste generated / Tons per year

Categories of Appliances counted in e-waste

Year

Switzerland

66,042

Office & Telecommunications Equipment, Consumer Entertainment Electronics, Large and Small Domestic Appliances, Refrigerators, Fractions

2003

Germany

1,100,000

Office & Telecommunications Equipment, Consumer Entertainment Electronics, Large and Small Domestic Appliances, Refrigerators, Fractions

2005

UK

915,000

Office & Telecommunications Equipment, Consumer Entertainment Electronics, Large and Small Domestic Appliances, Refrigerators, Fractions

1998

USA

2,158,490

Video Products, Audio Products, Computers and Telecommunications Equipment

2000

Taiwan

14,036

Computers, Home electrical appliances (TVs, Washing Machines, Air conditioners, Refrigerators)

2003

Thailand

60,000

Refrigerators, Air Conditioners, Televisions, Washing Machines, Computers

2003

Denmark

118,000

Electronic and Electrical Appliances including refrigerators

1997

Canada

67,000

Computer Equipment (computers, printers etc) & Consumer Electronics (TVs)

2005

• • • • • • • • •

Lead in cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and solder; Arsenic in older CRTs (see Figure 5 and Figure 6); Antimony trioxide as flame retardant; Polybrominated flame retardants in plastic casings, cables and circuit boards; Selenium in circuit boards as a power supply rectifier; Cadmium in circuit boards and semiconductors; Chromium in steel as corrosion protection; Cobalt in steel for structure and magnetivity; Mercury in switches and housing.

The ‘size’ of the e-Waste challenge can be seen from Table 2. In 2003, the United States alone had over 3.2 million tons of electronic waste. (Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Rescoures, (n.d.). Educator’s guide) According to educators’ guide(Wisconsin dept. of natural rescoures, (n.d.)) up to 75 percent

of unused computers are stored in the closets, basements and offices of the original owners. Fifty percent of computers being recycled are still in good working order and could be reused. The educator’s guide reports that 85 percent of computers that are “thrown in the garbage” end up in a land-fill and in this educator’s guide it is reported that up to 70 percent of heavy metal (lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.) contamination in US landfills comes from electronic products that are disposed of incorrectly. Resolution of the e-Waste issue can be viewed in terms of a ‘life cycle’ of electronic equipment, spanning from its acquisition to it its disposal after the active usage period is over. The ‘lifecycle’ issue applies to both the use of industrial as well as personal equipments of electronic and electrical nature. While ‘active’, during their usage time, electronic equipments (computers and allied equipments) contribute significantly to the carbon footprint. When discarded, however, electronic equipment continues to impact the environment through the e-Waste they create. It

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is these e-Waste contributions that are often omitted from the mandatory requirements of carbon emissions by many governments. The EPA (the Environmental Protection Agency) found certain trends on storage and disposal of e-Waste: •

•

•

•

Of products sold between 1980 and 2007, approximately 235 million units had accumulated in storage as of 2007; Of the 2.25 million tons of TVs, cell phones and computer products ready for end-oflife (EOL) management, 18% (414,000 tons) was collected for recycling and 82% (1.84 million tons) was disposed of, primarily in landfills; From 1999 through 2005, recycling rate was relatively constant at about 15%. During these years, the amount of electronics recycled increased but the percentage did not because the amount of electronics sent for end of life management increased each year as well; For 2006-2007, the recycling rate increased to 18%, possibly because several states have started mandatory collection and recycling programs for electronics.

The other equally serious dimension is about the ‘source’ and ‘sink’ problem of e-Waste; some countries (mostly the developed countries) generate tremendous amounts of e-Waste while other countries (mostly, the developing or under-developed countries) become available as the dumping yard For example, the statistics posted in an article(USEPA,(n.d.).) Americans own 3 billion electronic gadgets, and are dumping old and redundant equipment in China, Ghana, Nigeria, and India because the US lacks the capacity to recycle all of its e-Waste. Africa has become the world’s latest destination for obsolete electronic equipment (Environmental Health Perspectives(n.d.).) with Nigeria

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Table 3. 2007 - Estimated Number of Units in Storage [the EPA study reported at http://www. epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/ manage.htm] Estimated Number of Units in Storage as of 2007 Product Type

Number (million units)

Desktop computer

65.7

Computer monitors

42.4

Portable computers (notebooks)

2.1

Televisions

99.1

Hard copy peripherals

25.2 Total

234.6

*EPA does not have information to estimate the number of cell phones currently in storage.

Figure 7. e-Waste – Source and Sink (Source – ‘E-Waste Crisis’ article posted by the University of Michigan under the topic ‘Computer Industry Impacts on the Environment and Society at the link http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section002group3/ewaste (accessed 10th November, 2009))

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(Benebo,(n.d.).) receiving 45% of it e-Waster from the European Union contributes, the United States of America contributes 45% and remaining 10% of the e-Waste to Nigeria comes from other locations such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF E-WASTE – (ANTI GREEN) FACTORS After the disposal of e-Waste as landfill, environmental impacts can continue to be seen through leaching2 The resulting leachate often contains heavy metals and other toxic substances which can contaminate ground and water resources. Even state-of-the-art landfills which are sealed to prevent toxins from entering the ground are not completely tight in the long-term. Older landfill sites and uncontrolled dumps pose a much greater danger of releasing hazardous emissions. Mercury, Cadmium and Lead are among the most toxic leachiest and those are the common elements used in PCs (see Figure 5 and Figure 6). Mercury, for example, will leach when certain electronic devices such as circuit breakers are destroyed. Lead has been found to leach from broken lead-containing glass, such as the cone glass of cathode ray tubes from TVs and monitors. When brominated flame retarded plastics or plastics containing cadmium are land-filled, both PBDE and cadmium may leach into soil and groundwater. Similarly, land filled condensers emit hazardous chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and these are known to have negative effect on the environment(Environmental Hazards of Electronic Waste, (n.d.)). There are other problems associated with e-Waste in land-filling. Besides leaching, vaporization is also of concern in landfills. Volatile compounds such as mercury or dimethylene mercury can be released. In addition, landfills are

also prone to uncontrolled fires which can release toxic fumes. Significant impacts from land-filling could be avoided by conditioning hazardous materials from e-waste separately and by landfilling only those fractions for which there are no further recycling possibilities and ensure that they are in state-of-the-art land-fills that respect environmentally sound technical standards. There are other negative environmental impacts from e-Waste apart from the problems created due to use of e-Waste material in the landfills. PVC3 is a chlorinated plastic used in some electronics products and for insulation on wires and cables. Chlorinated dioxins and furans are released when PVC is produced or disposed of by incineration. Lead, mercury, cadmium, and polybrominated flame retardants are all persistent, bio-accumulative toxins (PBTs). PBTs, in particular are a dangerous class of chemicals that linger in the environment and accumulate in living tissues. PBTs are harmful to human health and the environment and have been associated with cancer, nerve damage and reproductive disorders. Table 5 shows how e-Waste components affect human health.

Table 4. Re-cycling versus Disposal – EPA Survey Results [the EPA study reported at http://www. epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/ manage.htm] Generated (million of units)

Disposed (million of units)

Recycled (million of units)

Recycling Rate (by weight)

Televisions

26.9

20.6

6.3

18%

Computer Products*

205.5

157.3

48.2

18%

Cell Phones

140.3

126.3

14.0

10%

*Computer products include CPUs, monitors, notebooks, keyboards, mice, and hard copy peripherals.

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Table 5. How e-waste affects human health [Report Published in Envis Journal of Human Settlements, March 2004] Source of e-wastes

Hazardous Constituent

Ill Effects on Health

Solder in printed circuit boards, glass panels and gaskets in computer monitors

Lead (PB)

• Damage to central and peripheral nervous systems, blood systems and kidney damage. • Affects brain development of children

Chip resistors and semiconductors

Cadmium (CD)

• Toxic irreversible effects on human health. • Accumulates in kidney and liver. • Causes neural damage. • Teratogenic.

Relays and switches, printed circuit boards

Mercury (Hg)

• Chronic damage to the brain. • Respiratory and skin disorders due to bioaccumulation in fishes.

Corrosion protection of untreated and galvanized steel plates, decorator or hardner for steel housings

Hexavalent chromium (Cr) VI

• Asthmatic bronchitis. • DNA damage.

Cabling and computer housing

Plastics including PVC

Burning produces dioxin. It causes • Reproductive and developmental problems; • Immune system damage; • Interfere with regulatory hormones

Plastic housing of electronic equipments and circuit boards.

Brominated flame retardants (BFR)

• Disrupts endocrine system functions

Front panel of CRTs

Barium (Ba)

Short term exposure causes: • Muscle weakness; • Damage to heart, liver and spleen.

Motherboard

Beryllium (Be)

• Carcinogenic (lung cancer) • Inhalation of fumes and dust. Causes chronic beryllium disease or beryllicosis. • Skin diseases such as warts.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLOOK ON E-WASTE Approaches to the management of e-Waste can be seen from the policies seen in China, India and South Africa.

A. China Sources of e-Waste in China (Xiaoyue, 2008) are households, offices, manufactories, and import from other countries (legal as well as illegal imports). Import-prohibited old and useless electric products in China are TV sets, refrigerators, airconditioners, computers, microwave ovens, washing machines, mobile communication equipment,

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printers, copying machines etc. In recent years, environmentalists in China have expressed rising concern about the large quantities of electronic waste that wealthy countries continue to dump in China (Xiaoyue, 2008). At a forum on e-waste recycling in Beijing last week, participants explored ways to address this daunting problem in a more realistic and pragmatic way. It is estimated that 80 percent of the world’s high-tech trash is exported to Asia, and 90 percent of this flows into China. The Chinese Government had banned the import of ewaste in 2000. However, the labor-intensive nature of electronics recycling has perpetuated a black market in the trade, taking advantage of China’s abundant, cheap, and skilled labor force. Much of the discarded equipment is shipped to Hong

E-Waste Management

Kong in containers labeled “for recycling,” then smuggled overland to several “recycling towns” in adjacent Guangdong Province, and to areas further inland. E-waste recycling can generate huge profits for local governments, so authorities often turn a blind eye to the practice, which serves as passive encouragement to its spread. Chinese demand for electronics and electrical equipment surges making the e-Waste scenario there worse. China has generated roughly 1.1 million tons of e-waste annually since 2003, including 5 million TV sets, 4 million refrigerators, 5 million washing machines, 5 million computers, and tens of millions of mobile phones and it has continue to pile up (Xiaoyue, 2008). China does not yet have comprehensive legislation on electronics manufacture and disposal, however, the National People’s Congress was considering measures to prevent pollution from discarded e-waste. “The legislative process embodies two considerations: one is to encourage the recycling and reuse of resources, and the other is environmental protection,” According to the Science Daily news (2008), there is a rise in concentrations of toxic metals in China’s e-Waste recycling workshops.

B. India At present, India has about 16 million computers which are expected to grow to 75 million computers by 2010.(E-Waste Guide,(n.d.).). In India, e-waste is mostly generated in large cities. In terms of eWaste tonnage, Mumbai, at present, tops the list with 11,017 tones, followed by Delhi and Bangalore with 9,730 and 4,648tones respectively. Next come Chennai and Kolkota with 4,132 and 4,025 tones - other cities being Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune and Surat at the lower spectrum of eWaste generation in India (3,287 tones, 2,833 tones, 2,584 and 1,836 tones respectively) (Scribd, (n.d.).). In large cities of India, a complex e-waste handling infra-structure has developed mainly based on a long tradition of waste recycling. The main players seem to be the

rag pickers and waste dealers, resulting in a large number of new businesses focusing on the re-use of components or extraction of secondary raw materials. The situation seems to be improving; for example, as per November 2009 news item in Times of India, large quantity of eWaste generated in Mumbai, Pune and its suburban areas, will soon be handled in a scientific way, at an integrated eWaste facility in the Mumbai metropolitan region. This has been planned in view of the fact that there is no large-scale organized eWaste recycling facility in the country and therefore, the recycling gets handled in an unorganized way. The current practices of e-waste management in India suffers from a number of drawbacks; such as the difficulty in inventorisation, unhealthy conditions of informal recycling, inadequate legislation, poor awareness and reluctance on part of the corporate to address the critical issues. Some of the recycling processes, used in India, are extremely harmful and have negative impacts on the workers‘ health and the environment (see Table 5). For example, a study4 on the burning of printed wiring boards in India, was conducted - it showed an alarming concentration of dioxins in the surrounding areas in which open burning was practiced. These toxins cause an increased risk of cancer if inhaled by workers and local residents or by entering the food chain via crops from the surrounding fields. Lack of eWaste governance can have many consequences; toxic materials enter the waste stream with no special precautions to avoid the known adverse effects on the environment and human health, resources are wasted when economically valuable materials are dumped or unhealthy conditions are developed during the informal recycling. There is no separate collection of e-waste in India and that presents a challenge to collect data on the quantity generated and disposed of each year and the resulting extent of environmental risk. Despite a wide range of environmental legislation in India, there are no specific laws or guidelines for electronic waste or computer waste. As per the Hazardous Waste

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Rules (1989), e-waste is not treated as hazardous unless proved to have higher concentration of certain substances. Though PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) and CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) would always exceed these parameters, there are several grey areas that need to be addressed. As per Basel Convention there are mainly on concerns of mercury, lead and cadmium containing substances. The import of this waste therefore requires specific permission of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. This is based on the latest development that the Ministry of Environment and Forests in India is currently drafting “WEEE” legislation. The new legislation is to hold e-waste producers accountable for their action.

C. South Africa South Africa is thought to be at the forefront of waste management in Africa; however South Africa faces a number of key challenges in dealing with e-waste. E-waste is receiving a relatively high priority in South Africa at the moment, and they are reported to be good management and monitoring systems in place that govern waste streams. E-Waste drivers in South Africa include historical and current economic conditions: • •

• •

level of old PCs or mobile phones in circulation, life cycle or useful life of i.e. the life cycle of technology is generally taken to be longer in Africa than in industrialized nations (South African people tend to hold onto their technology for longer), level of refurbishment of old technology, extent to which technology is stored rather than disposed i.e. the storage, rather than the disposal or re-use of old technology, is a crucial factor shaping the e-waste landscape in South Africa.

Reasons for storage include difficulties in writing assets off from registers, fears relating to data

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security, a lack of awareness of where to dispose old technology, and psychological factors, such as the belief that old technology has some value. The potential levels of e-waste in South Africa(Scribd, (n.d.).) are affected by importing new and refurbished or second-hand technology into the country. There are also indications that some e-waste is imported into South Africa from other African countries for recycling. South Africa also exports a substantial amount of recycled electronic waste in a refined or raw form. Export destinations include Europe and Asia. There is no specific legislation that deals with eWaste in South Africa. However, various legislations in South Africa are ready to impact eWaste; the South African Constitution, NEMA - the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998), the Municipal Services Act (Act 32 of 2000), the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act 85 of 1993), The Environment Conservation Act (ECA).

STANDARDS, REGULATIONS AND COMPLIANCE OUTLOOK ON EWASTE The command and control approach to environmental regulations, in which governments specify standards and technologies to govern industrial production, has been central to protecting the environment since the 1970s. Around the world, a number of initiatives have arisen to address the issue of e-waste, by promoting the reuse of electronic devices (e-cycling) and mandating that safer alternatives to hazardous substances be used in their manufacture whenever possible. Environmental governance structures can be either voluntary codes of conduct or mandated regulations. In all, the policies, laws, regulations and influential roles for WEEE/eWaste in developing countries are based on parameters such as – legal framework, inventory, eWaste collection mechanism, recycle/reuse technologies.(United Nations Environment Programme, 2007). In Eu-

E-Waste Management

rope, legislation has been drafted to deal with the problem, including the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and the Basel Convention-. 5. In the United States, initiatives have mostly come from the private sector, such as eBay’s Rethink project. We provide an overview of how the regulatory, compliance and side of eWaste stands along with the standards applicable on the environmental side.

A. The Basel Convention The Basel Convention is aimed at minimizing hazardous waste; it is not limited only to the eWaste. In the late 1980s, a tightening of environmental regulations.6 In industrialized countries led to a dramatic rise in the cost of hazardous waste disposal. Searching for cheaper ways to get rid of the wastes, “toxic traders” began shipping hazardous waste to developing countries and to Eastern Europe. When this activity was revealed, international outrage led to the drafting and adoption of the Basel Convention. The Basel Convention on the Control of ‘Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal’ is the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes. The Convention has 172 Parties and aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects resulting from the generation, management, trans-boundary movements and disposal of hazardous and other wastes. The Basel Convention came into force in 1992. The Basel Convention works in two ways. First, through the regulation of the trans-boundary movements of hazardous and other wastes by applying the “Prior Informed Consent” procedure (shipments, that are made without consent, are treated as illegal). Shipments to and from non-Parties are illegal unless there is a special agreement. Each Party is required to introduce appropriate national or domestic legislation to prevent and punish illegal traffic in hazardous and other wastes. Illegal traf-

fic is criminal. Second, the Convention obliges its Parties to ensure that hazardous and other wastes are managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner (ESM). To this end, Parties are expected to minimize the quantities that are moved across borders, to treat and dispose of wastes as close as possible to their place of generation and to prevent or minimize the generation of wastes at source. Strong controls have to be applied from the moment of generation of a hazardous waste to its storage, transport, treatment, reuse, recycling, recovery and final disposal. The Basel Convention text has 29 articles and several annexure. The discussion on the text of Basel Convention is not within the scope of this chapter.

B. THE ISO 14000 ISO 14000 refers to a series of standards on environmental management tools and systems. ISO 14000 deals with a company’s system for managing its day-to-day operations and how they impact the environment. The ISO standards do not set any environment performance values; they only state that the firm must exhibit a commitment to comply with all relevant laws and regulations. In this sense, they are “concerned with establishing “how to” achieve a goal, not “what” the goal should be. ISO 14000 has received certain criticism. First, the ISO does not provide specifications or require firms to report emission levels. Second, the firms’ environment commitments are measured against their own environmental policies; consequently, there is little incentive for them to go beyond mere compliance with local environmental laws. Further, since the standards are determined by local environmental laws, they vary across countries. As a result, firms’ environmental policies vary with their locations and most do not transfer their clean technologies to locations with lax regulations. Third, there have been cases of the industry

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using the ISO to press for regulatory relief and less stringent monitoring of environmental regulations Critics of ISO 14000 say that as a consequence of the aforementioned issues, an ISO 140001 certified firm can legitimately employ different manufacturing processes or adopt varied protocols for eWaste management and disposal across its locations7. This can lead to the practice of double standards, with “firms owned by the same corporation and operating in the same sector, but located in different countries, operating on different environmental standards.” Under these conditions, ISO 14000 has come to be viewed as a “passport to international trade” rather than an environmental code of conduct. The ISO 14000 also does not address the issue of e-waste trade. From eWaste perspective, however, we see that the Environmental Management System (EMS) and the ISO 14000 Environmental Auditing can address a wide range of issues related indirectly to eWaste matters: 1. Top management commitment to continuous improvement, compliance, and pollution prevention; 2. Creating and implementing environmental policies, including setting and meeting appropriate targets – so the eWaste metrics can be considered with this clause; 3. Integrating environmental considerations in operating procedures; so the green aspect of companies operations can be addressed under this; 4. Training employees in regard to their environmental obligations – this can be used to sensitize company employees towards the negative (anti-green) impacts of eWaste 5. Conducting audits of the environmental management system.- among many aspects of environmental management, the eWaste dimension can be addressed

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In the United Sates the regulatory side of eWaste is governed by certain laws. Local state and federal statutes and regulations8govern hazardous waste management in California. Statutes or laws are enacted by bills through legislation. The primary statutes or laws which rule hazardous waste management include: • •

• • • •

Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Comprehensive Environmental Responses Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (Fed-OSHA). Federal Hazardous Material Transportation Act (HMTA). California Health and Safety Code (HSC).

Figure 8 shows the status of eWaste regulations in the United States.

C. Electronic Waste Recycling Promotion and Consumer Protection Act The Bill (Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. 2009) aims to promote recycling through creating incentives for individuals and large scale recyclers. It creates a fifteen dollar tax credit for individual consumers and an eight dollar per-unit tax credit for large-scale recyclers. The bill also requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to analyze different methods of funding a national recycling program. The Bill has the objective of making disposing of e-waste products in landfills illegal. The unified national recycling system created by the legislation is meant to eliminate the need to adjust to different regulatory standards in individual states in USA and to encourage more uniform recycling practices. Currently many people do not have convenient access to

E-Waste Management

Figure 8. Status of e-waste legislations in the US Source: EPA 2004:10

recycling. The proposed legislation is aimed at changing this scenario by expanding the recycling industry through incentives, with the eventual goal of removing all e-waste from the municipal waste stream. Although a global regulatory regime governs e-waste trade and management, it seems to be routinely ignored.

E-WASTE METRICS AND MEASUREMENTS The increase in sales of new electronics has created concern about the volume of hazardous materials being placed in the waste stream. Such concerns have prompted individual states to take action, as well as independent campaigns and industry initiatives. Significant measures have been enacted. The Electronic Waste Recycling Promotion and Consumer Protection Act attempts to address the problem of e-waste in land-fills and the resulting potential for human harm caused by emission of toxic substances. To evaluate quantitative measures that could be used to evaluate the scientific success of the Bill, it is necessary to consider the ways in which stakeholders currently measure the success of e-waste programs. It is also neces-

sary to evaluate these methods against potential alternatives, which may more accurately measure the success of recycling programs. Regulators (EPA), manufacturers, the recycling industry and consumers have diverse criteria motivating their support of, or participation in, e-waste recycling. What should be measured depends on what the improvement target is; this is the fundamental principle of any measurement and metrics program. There can be different targets for e-waste recycling improvement ; for example, measuring amounts of toxic chemicals removed by manufacturers from products through redesign, identifying the harmful substances to be removed in consultation with stakeholder, targets for the number of computers and TVs recycled or reused, the nature and volume of electronics handled by states and community electronics recycling programs. The EPA uses external factors including number of manufacturers educated and businesses. Tonnage or “mass” of e-waste inflow is one of few metrics that the recycling industry keeps data for. For example, pure tonnage is not an indicator of toxicity. It does not take into account that the initial recycler’s recovered materials are land-filled by a second recycler down-stream in the process. It is possible that the expense, energy and environmental impact of recycling material in the current system may exceed the benefits from its recovery. The costs associated with government subsidies, often necessary to make recycling profitable, need to be considered. Adjusting the well-known and commonly-used tonnage or mass metric to incorporate factors such as value, energy used, and environmental impact provides a more comprehensive method of measuring the program’s success. The measures to take into consideration are: • • •

Quality of inflows and outflows of e-waste; Embedded materials that must be extracted from these flows; Value-added performance of individual recyclers;

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Figure 9. E-waste flow – Generation and processing

• •

Net energy consumption of recycling versus new manufacture; Environmental impact of primary versus secondary commodities

As the stakeholders involved in eWaste recycling become mature in their expertise with the growth in e-waste recycling, more methods of eWaste management measurement become available for evaluation. It may be possible to monitor toxins and heavy metals in landfill leachate pools to determine levels of air and groundwater contamination. However, due to the cost and administrative burden, such a measure is not always easy to implement. In addition, the role of computer re-use in slowing the inflow of e-waste to land-fills is also to be considered.

STRATEGIES FOR E-WASTE MANAGEMENT & CONTROL The overall flow involved in eWaste generation and eWaste processing is presented in Figure 9. The typical e-waste collection and reuse/recycling system is a multi-stage process (see Figure

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10) that involves transporting devices from the consumer’s home or business, to the appropriate recycling facility. In the typical scenario, the consumer brings a used device to an electronics retail store. The retailer transports the device from the store, often using a small truck, to a collection point where e-waste is gathered into batches. Large trucks then convey the batches of e-waste to a reuse/recycling facility where the device is checked for resale value and resold if appropriate. If reuse is not an option, the device then enters the recycling process. Specifically, it is disassembled by hand and/or shredded by machine to separate different materials and parts such as steel, copper, aluminum, glass, plastic, and circuit boards. Certain components such as batteries and circuit boards are shipped to separate facilities and undergo specialized recycling processes. The first and most critical step is collection and transport of devices from the consumer’s residence to some centralized point. Thus, after the eWaste or the WEE gets generated due to usage, subsequently it needs to be transported for recovery. Typically for this transport, the following methods can be employed:

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Figure 10. e-Waste collection and reuse/recycling system

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Curbside pick-up - The resident puts a device outside the home for pick-up by the relevant waste management service. There may be rules to decide how many home/office appliances, (televisions, and computer monitors etc.) can be put out on the curb for pick-up free-of-charge; Retailer swap-out- the retailer collects old devices when delivering new ones, regardless of the manufacturer of the old device. This system piggybacks on the appointment already made for delivery. The resident does not need to read information, initiate communication or make appointments to be at home for a separate pick-up of the old device. The swap-out system is used for larger devices in a variety of urban areas of developed countries and is some of the developing countries (see Figure 8); Mail/courier pick-up - the consumer packages the device for transport and it is picked up at the residence by postal or courier service. This is a common approach,

•

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nationwide, for returning cell phones for recycling; Dedicated pick-up at residence - the collecting organization dispatches a truck directly to the consumer’s home for the purpose of picking up the device to be discarded. In developed countries such as the United States, this e-waste management program cam utilize this method, which it requires manufacturers to pick-up the eWaste at residences. Drop-off point - the consumer brings the device to a designated drop-off point, such as an electronics retailer or a municipal recycling center (see Figure 8); Collection event - in this approach, periodic events can be held by municipalities or other organizations, where consumers bring devices in to be recycled.

The steps involved in recycling of eWaste include:

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1. The first step in the recycling process is the removal of critical components from the eWaste in order to avoid dilution of and / or contamination with toxic substances during the downstream processes. Critical components include, e.g., lead glass from CRT screens, CFC gases from refrigerators, light bulbs and batteries; 2. Mechanical processing is the next step in eWaste treatment, normally an industrial large scale operation to obtain concentrates of recyclable materials in a dedicated fraction and also to further separate hazardous materials. Typical components of a mechanical processing plant are crushing units, shredders, magnetic- and eddy current-and air-separators. The gas emissions are filtered and effluents are treated to minimize environmental impact; 3. Refining is the third step of e-waste recycling. Refining of resources in e-waste is possible

and the technical solutions exist to get back raw with minimal environmental impact. Most of the fractions need to be refined or conditioned in order to be sold as secondary raw materials or to be disposed of in a final disposal site, respectively. During the refining process, to three flows of materials is paid attention: Metals, plastics and glass. From the discussion so far, it is clear that there are multiple actors and stakeholders involved in effective management and control of eWaste. The roles of these actors and stakeholders are presented in Table 6. In addition to dangerous recycling and disposal practices followed by different stakeholders described above, there is no organized collection, sorting and transportation system in developing countries. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product

Table 6. Actors and stake-holders involved in ewaste management Stakeholders and Actors in eWaste Management Name of Stakeholder/Actor Importer/Manufacturer

Description ⁃ Huge quantities of WEEE/ E-waste like monitors, printers, keyboards, CPUs, typewriters, projectors, mobile phones, PVC wires, etc are imported. These items belong to all ranges, models and sizes, and are functional as well as junk materials ⁃ Responsible for their products up to the end of the products useful life, and therefore jointly operate a return and recycling system via their association ⁃ It is their job to collect the advance recycling fee (ARF) imposed on new electronic equipment ⁃ They further guarantee a smooth recycling operation, paying special attention to the recycling quality and the utilization of funds

Manufacturers/Retailers

⁃ This sector comprises defective IC chips, motherboards, CRTs other peripheral items produced during the production process ⁃ It also includes defective PCs under guarantee procured from consumers as replacement items or items, which fail quality tests ⁃

Trader/Retailer

⁃ Traders/retailers are an important element in the entire recycling chain ⁃ Traders charge an advance recycling fee (ARF) on each newly sold piece of electronic equipment ⁃ This fee stays with the trader who paid the same amount to the importer/manufacturer as part of the products delivery price ⁃ As a result, traders/retailers do not make any financial profit the recycling scheme provides them with a convenient outlet for e-waste as retailers and traders are obliged to take back any electronic equipment, take-back and disposal of electrical and electronic appliances

continued on following page

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Table 6. continued Stakeholders and Actors in eWaste Management Name of Stakeholder/Actor

Description

Consumer/Individual Households

⁃ Upon purchase of a new electronic product, consumers have to pay an advance recycling fee (ARF); ⁃ ARF entitles them to return any old equipment to importers, traders or authorized collection points; ⁃ Furthermore, the ARF on new equipment finances the take back of old equipment bought at a time when the ARF had not been implemented yet ⁃ Most of the households do not directly sell obsolete WEEE/ E-waste into the scrap market. The preferred practice is to get it exchanged from retailers while purchasing a new computer, or pass it to relatives or friends. In former case, it is the retailer’s responsibility to dispose off the computer.

Business/Government Sector

⁃ The business sector (government departments, public or private sector, MNC offices, etc) were the earliest users of IT and IT products; today they account for a sizable amount of total installed ICT equipment ⁃ The incompatibility of old systems to cater to present needs and requirements prompts them to pass the obsolete electrical and electronic equipment to dismantlers/ recyclers, who pick up these items based on auction or other standard business practices. ⁃

Authorized E-waste Collection Points

⁃ Authorized collection points are run to support the free of charge return of electronic equipment of any kind; ⁃ Arrangements for home collections can also be made via hotline

Licensed Sorting and Dismantling Companies

⁃ The recycling system can operate with licensed sorting and dismantling companies to process electronic waste according to the eWaste governance, rules/standards/regulations; ⁃ Processing includes manual and mechanical sorting and dismantling, shredding and recovery of materials; ⁃ Depending on their composition, the resulting fractions are passed over to refiners, conditioners or final disposers ⁃ The majority of stakeholders in this category fall under unorganized/ informal sector. ⁃ Immediately after securing WEEE/ E-waste from various sources, scrap dealers decide which item ought to be dismantled and which to be retained for resale. This decision is based on the resale of second hand products ⁃ The not-to-be-resold WEEE/ E-waste item/ components find their way to the storehouses for dismantling ⁃ During dismantling, each item is dismantled into various parts.

Refiner/Conditioner

⁃ Most of the eWaste elements need to be refined or conditioned in order to be sold as a secondary raw material or to be disposed of in a final disposal site, respectively; ⁃ Refining is performed in refining companies for elements such as aluminium, batteries, CRT’s, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, recyclable plastics and printed boards; ⁃ Conditioning is mainly performed for elements such as plastics waste, and Hazardous Waste Incineration for fractions such as condensers. The material entering the recycling systems is refined to secondary raw materials like aluminum, copper, gold and silver; ⁃ Many of the material mainly plastics is incinerated

Recyclers

⁃ The nature and type of recyclers vary considerably between developed and developing countries ⁃ In developed countries the recycling operations may be combined with dismantling operation in integrated facilities or alternatively the scrap dealers may carry ⁃ out the dismantling operation, segregate the fractions and send them to large scale smelters for material recovery technologies like open roasting, small scale smelting, acid ⁃ bath, etc ⁃ They are spread over different areas in organized/informal sector and one recycler usually deals with one type of metal/ recycling operation ⁃ Generally these stakeholders are not concentrated in a single place, but spread over different areas, each handling a different aspect of recycling ⁃ The general practices observed in case of recycling in developing countries are open roasting, smelting and acid bath in the unorganized/ informal sector to recover different metals.

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is extended to the post consumer stage of the product’s life cycle, including its final disposal. In principle, all the actors along the product chain share responsibility for the lifecycle environmental impacts of the whole product system. The greater the ability of the actor to influence the environmental impacts of the product system, the greater the share of responsibility for addressing those impacts should be. These actors are the consumers, the suppliers, and the product manufacturers. The idea is that there is an entire life cycle involved starting from raw material extraction, production to the proper disposal of the WEE. The life cycle involves many stakeholders (producers/manufacturers of the electronic/product, its consumers and many others as listed in Table 6). For the concept of ‘extended producer responsibility for “producers” of electronics’ in the discussion here, the definition of “producer” would include owners, holders or users of intellectual property or first suppliers. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a strategy to place a shared responsibility for end-of-life product management on the producers, and all entities involved in the product chain (Table 6), instead of the general public; while encouraging product

design changes that minimize a negative impact on human health and the environment at every stage of the product’s lifecycle. This allows the costs of treatment and disposal to be incorporated into the total cost of a product. It places primary responsibility on the producer, or brand owner, who makes design and marketing decisions. It also creates a setting for markets to emerge that truly reflect the environmental impacts of a product, and to which producers and consumers respond. The various ‘take-backs’ and transportation systems of the stakeholders (involved in eWaste management life-cycle) are depicted in Figure 11. There are many benefits from the EPR concept. They are summarized as below: •

Traditionally, producers only considered themselves responsible for the quality of the product. For the environmental cause, however, industries need to be and they are becoming accountable for their choice of materials through the supply chain, as well as the environmental impacts of their production processes on workers on the shop floor. By focusing on end-of-life products,

Figure 11. EEE/WEE/e-Waste Take Backs and Transportation Systems (Source: e-Waste Management Manual, compiled by the UN Environmental Program (re-drawn))

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•

EPR takes manufacturer responsibility one more step; When producers take responsibility for managing their discarded products, the cost of recycling (or other disposal methods) is reflected in the product price either visibly as a separate line on the price tag, or invisibly. In this way, the consumer who uses products that are difficult or costly to dispose of also helps pay for that disposal. By paying for the recycling costs when a product is bought, the consumer can rest assured that his or her product will be taken care of when it is thrown out. EPR concept allows corporations to take direct responsibility for recycling their own brand name products. Individual responsibility can be more effective and can result in better design than collective responsibility. It involves producers sharing the costs of managing end-of-life products regardless of brand name and based on market share;

Product life cycle with extended product responsibility (EPR) concept is depicted in Figure 12. It shows the upstream and downstream eWaste management. The EPR concept comes based on the ‘e-Waste Product Stewardship(Fielder, 2007)’as Figure 12. EPR-based product lifecycle with upstream and downstream management

seen in the Canadian experience (2009). In principle, a “steward” is the company, organization or individual who is resident in a country with the closest commercial connection to the WEEE sold in or into a state of that country. According to the EPA (2007), ‘product stewardship’ is different than manufacturer-centered extended producer responsibility. “Product stewardship recognizes that product manufacturers can and must take on new responsibilities to reduce the environmental footprint of their product to help us make significant progress toward improved resource conservation and a sustainable economy. However, real change cannot always be achieved by producers acting alone: retailers, consumers, and the existing waste management infrastructure should be pitched in for the most workable and cost-effective solution to environment sustainability. Electronic Equipment and Product Stewardship is explained by the Northwest Product Stewardship Council [http:// www.productstewardship.net/productsElectronicsActivities.html] Based on the discussion so far, an approach proposed for the management of waste stream of electronic products is presented in Figure 13. It is based on the waste disposal hierarchy or the ‘3Rs’ of waste disposal – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The important point is that the emphasis should

Figure 13. An approach to managing the waste stream of electronic products

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Figure 14. E-waste policy framework

be towards ‘re-use’ as much as possible and ‘disposal’ should be used as the last option. Having noted the stakeholders/actors and their roles, as well as the EPR concept, we now present the eWaste policy framework in Figure 14. It is high time the manufactures, consumers, regulators, municipal authorities, state governments, and policy makers take up the matter seriously so that the different critical elements (depicted in Figures 10, 11) and all stakeholders (mentioned in Table 6), are addressed in an integrated manner. It is the need of the hour to have a national level “eWaste-policy” and national regulatory frame work for promotion of such activities. An eWaste Policy is best created by those who understand the issues. Therefore, it is best for industry to initiate policy formation collectively, but with the involvement of users/consumers. Sustainability of e-Waste management systems has to be ensured by improving the effectiveness of collection and recycling systems (e.g., public–privatepartnerships in setting up buy-back or drop-off

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centers) and by designing-in additional funding e.g., advance recycling fees. There are number of aspects for the implementation of the eWaste policy and regulation. First of all, the Policy should address all issues ranging from production and trade to final disposal, including technology transfers for the recycling of electronic waste. There should be clear regulatory instruments, adequate to control both legal and illegal exports and imports of e-wastes. There should also be effective controls for ensuring the environmentally sound management of the regulatory instruments. There is also a need to address the loop holes in the prevailing legal frame work to ensure that eWastes from developed countries are not reaching developing/poor countries for disposal (recall the source and sink of eWaste mentioned earlier). The Port & Custom authorities should be empowered to monitor these aspects. The regulations should prohibit the disposal of eWastes in municipal land-fills. Owners and generators of eWastes should be encouraged to properly recycle the eWaste materials. Manufactures of products

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must be made financially, physically and legally responsible for their products (the EPR concept). The authorities driving the policies and regulations should be involved in the better management of restricted Substances. This may be implemented through the following: • • • • •

• • • • • • •

specific product take-back obligations for industry financial responsibility for actions and schemes greater attention to the role of new product design material and/or substance bans including stringent restrictions on certain substances greater scrutiny of cross-border movements of Electrical and Electronic Products and e-waste Increasing public awareness by labeling products as ‘environmental hazard’ The key questions about the effectiveness of legislation would include: What is to be covered by the term electronic waste? Who pays for disposal? Is it the producer’s responsibility to answer? What would be the benefits of voluntary commitments? How can sufficient recovery of material be achieved to guarantee recycling firms a reliable and adequate flow of secondary material?

A complete national level inventory, covering all the cities and all the sectors must be initiated. A public-private participatory forum (such a eWaste Agency) of decision making and problem resolution in eWaste management must be developed. This could be a working group comprising regulatory agencies, NGOs, industry associations, experts etc. to keep pace with the temporal and spatial changes in structure and content of eWaste. This working group can be the feedback providing

mechanism to the Government that will periodically review the existing rules, plans and strategies for eWaste management. Over and above this, there should be the practice of mandatory labeling of all computer monitors, television sets and other household/industrial electronic devices may be implemented for declaration of hazardous material contents with a view to identifying environmental hazards and ensuring proper material management and eWaste disposal. The efforts to improve the situation through regulations, though an important step; are usually only modestly effective because of the lack of enforcement. The support of agencies is often weak due to lack of resources and underdeveloped legal systems. Penalties for noncompliance and targets for collection or recycling are often used to ensure compliance. Collection systems are to be established so that eWaste is collected from the right places ensuring that this directly comes to the recycling unit. Collection can be accomplished through collection centers (refer Figure 8). Each electronic equipment manufacturer shall work cooperatively with collection centers to ensure implementation of a practical and feasible financing system. Collection Centers may only ship wastes to dismantlers and recyclers that are having authorization for handling, processing, refurbishment, and recycling meeting environmentally sound management guidelines.

FUTURE DIRECTION There is no doubt that electronic waste management is the new challenge of the millennium or put another way; it is the curse of the digital economy. One thing is certain; electronic waste is with us to stay and it’s likely to continue increasing in volume. We are already facing a serious challenge; refurbishing and reuse of computers and televisions, while desirable and encouraged, just delays the ultimate eWaste disposal problem. These items will eventually be unusable, and it

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will be important to have programs in place that divert this waste from landfills. Ultimately, we will have to develop viable markets for recycling eWaste to save ourselves from becoming buried under mountains of discarded computers, computer monitors, and televisions. The markets will have to be broad-based so that people can have their electronic waste delivered to the market. We are likely to see in the future - an increase in the number of businesses that will refurbish and recycle electronic equipment. This will help keep more equipment in continued use, and out of landfills, popularity to the take back programs by electronic equipment manufacturers if the tax saving is offered to them based on their participation in the program; and eventually, a greater use of alternative products, such as LCD panels and plasma screens for televisions and computers. These items contain little or no hazardous material. There is a lot of hope though because more than 97 percent of computer contents can be reused or recycled. To conclude on this futuristic note, a lot is uncertain about the future of electronic waste but one thing we do know is that for things to improve, we need innovation.

CONCLUSION Technological advancements have made our lives faster, easier and more efficient, but with the downside of increasing the proliferation of electronic waste, or e-waste. The e-waste pile is growing around the world. It runs into millions of tons annually. More and more countries are drafting legislation for the environmentally friendly disposal of this waste. Disposal techniques vary widely from country to country because it includes materials which are valuable and recyclable, as well as toxic. While modern technologies allow for nearly hazard-free recycling of e-waste, precautions must be taken to control harmful emissions and toxins that cause detrimental impacts on health and the environment. Electronic circuit boards,

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batteries, and Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) can contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and chromium. If improperly handled or disposed, these toxins can be released into the environment through landfill leachate or incinerator ash. The need of the hour is to understand that electronic product Stewardship is critical to environment sustainability. In this chapter, we considered various angles of the eWaste problem, the nature of eWaste, its negative impact on the environment, the regulatory aspects, effective life-cycle approach to eWaste management, the stakeholders involved, the extended product responsibility and the product stewardship concept and finally proposed a policy framework for managing the eWaste problem.

REFERENCES All Covered Learning Center. (2009). The dirty secret of eWaste. Retrieved from http://learning. allcovered.com/green-computing/what-is-ewaste/ Ashley, L. B. Deathe, Elaine MacDonald & William Amos (2008), E-waste Management Programmes and the Promotion of Design for the Environment: Assessing Canada’s Contributions, RECIEL 17 (3. IRG Systems South Asia Pvt. Ltd. (March 2007). Report on Assessment of Electronic Wastes in Mumbai-Pune Area. New Delhi, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. Accessed 3rd January 2010 at the link http://mpcb. gov.in/images/pdf/ewastereport1.pdf E-waste situation in India.(n.d.). Retrieved from the article from http://india.ewasteguide.info/ Initial Environmental Law/CleanTech Bulletin. (March 2009). Retrieved from http://www.blakes.com/ english/legal_updates/environmental/mar_2009/ E-waste.pdf Fielder, K. (2007). Product Stewardship is Critical to Sustainability.

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Finlay, A. (2005). E-waste challenges in developing countries: South Africa case study. Melville, South Africa: APC. E-Waste Management.(2007). E-Waste (Vol. II). Washington, DC: United National Environment Programme.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (n.d.). E-Waste Not, E-want Not. Educators’Guide on Electronic Waste. Accessed 11th November 2009, at the URL http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/ caer/ce/eek/teacher/pdf/recycle/4-8/E-waste1.pdf

India eWaste facts.(n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.scribd.com/doc/18020190/EWaste-PPT

YouTube. (n.d.). E-Waste: Dumping on the Poor. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =EXzsqTFwV3Q&feature=player_embedded on 15th, November 2009

Schmidt, C. (2006). Unfair Trade: e-Waste in Africa. Washington, DC: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Benebo, S.N., (24-25 June 2009). Status of E-Waste Control in Nigeria. Paper presented at NESREA conference, Accra, Ghana. Science News. (n.d.). Elevated Concentrations Of Toxic Metals In China’s E-Waste Recycling Workshops. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080331092500.htm Shen Xiaoyue, S., (March 26-28, 2008), Regional Economic Integration and E-Waste Management in China. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. Suite101.com. (n.d.). Environmental Hazards of Electronic Waste: The Negative Environmental Impacts of E-waste Disposal. Retrieved from http://waste-reduction.suite101.com/article.cfm/ environmental_hazards_of_electronic_waste The Ewaste China Case Study. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/8065811/ Ewaste-China-Case-Study (accessed 10th October 2009) Wastes - Resource Conservation - Common Wastes & Materials – eCycling. (n.d.). Statistics on the management of used and end-of-life electronics. Washington, DC: USEPA. Retrieved from http:// www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/manage.htm

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Basel Convention: is the convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes. The Convention has 172 Parties and aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects resulting from the generation, management, transboundary movements and disposal of hazardous and other wastes. The Basel Convention came into force in 1992. Cradle to Grave: is the term used to denote the life cycle involved in eWaste starting from how and where it is generated in business organization, how device usage affects the creation of eWaste, the negative impact generated on the environment and what controls organizations should have in place for safe disposal. CRT: Cathode Ray Tube) monitors that are used inside television sets. It contains some toxic elements and therefore, a concern to environmentalists when CRTs are not disposed off appropriately. EPA: Is the acronym for Environmental Protection Agency in the United States of America. EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment. EPA employs 17,000 people across the country. EPA is headquartered in Washington,

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DC, EPA has got 10 regional offices, and more than a dozen labs. EPA has got technically trained staff consisting of engineers, scientists, and policy analysts. A large number of EPA employees are legal, public affairs, financial, information management and computer specialists. EPR: Extended producer responsibility (EPR), concept based on the “polluter pays” principle, entails making manufacturers responsible for the entire lifecycle of the products and packaging they produce. One aim of EPR policies is to internalize the environmental costs of products into their price. Another is to shift the economic burden of managing products that have reached the end of their useful life from local government and taxpayers to product producers and consumers. The concept of EPR was first formally introduced in Sweden by Thomas Lindhqvist in a 1990 report to the Swedish Ministry of the Environment. EPR was first initiated in Germany under its Packaging Ordinance of 1991 Subsequently, the following definition of EPR emerged: Extended Producer Responsibility is an environmental protection strategy to reach an environmental objective of a decreased total environmental impact from a product, by making the manufacturer of the product responsible for the entire life-cycle of the product and especially for the take-back, recycling and final disposal of the product eWaste: Or electronic waste is any litter created by discarded electronic devices and components as well as substances involved in their manufacture or use. eWaste Policy: Is the framework consisting of the approach to and processes and controls for appropriate handling of the electronic waste material Green Computing: Is the ‘environmentally responsible use of computers and related resources ISO 14000: Refers to a series of standards on environmental management tools and systems. ISO 14000 deals with a company’s system for managing its day-to-day operations and how they impact the environment.

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Product Stewardship: According to the author concept is related to EPR; however according to some people, it is not. In principle, a “steward” is the company, organization or individual who is resident in a country with the closest commercial connection to the WEEE sold in or into a state of that country. The concept of product stewardship focuses on product life cycle. WEEE: Is the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The sudden boom in the IT sector has resulted in a cycle of tautological interplay between rapid technological advancements and subsequent development of newer and more efficient ideas. This has resulted in the rapid obsolescence of the electronic goods. The complexity associated with the recycling of these items accompanied by the extremely high advances in technology and consumer behaviour and improper means of waste disposal has resulted in the accumulation of the outdated electronic devices and their components. Today this forms a separate category of wastes by itself known as Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (or WEEE). The WEEE includes not only wastes from computers and processing devices but also the everyday household electrical and electronic items like washing machines, microwaves and even stereos. A characteristic of the WEEE is that it consists of bulk homogeneous material (like the Aluminium casing of the processors or the plastic body of the washing machine) and minute heterogeneous components (like the stereo circuit boards, the processor PCBs and the controllers in the microwaves).

ENDNOTES 1



Report titled “E-WASTE IN INDIA: System failure imminent – take action NOW!” accessed at the URL http://www.toxicslink. org/docs/06040_repsumry.pdf accessed on 4th November 2009. It is Toxic Link report]

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3

4

5









Guidelines for Environmentally Sound Management of e-waste as approved vide MoEF letter No. 23-23/2007-HSMD dt. March 12, 2008) of Ministry of Environment & Forests Eentral Pollution Control Board Delhi, released MARCH, 2008 handbook on PCBs in electrical equipment titled ‘POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS PCBs – REDUCTION AND ELIMINATION’ available at http://ozoneunit.gov. mk/pops/handbook-en.pdf] and the 24th November 2008 article Environmental Hazards of Electronic Waste - The Negative Environmental Impacts of E-waste Disposal posted at the link http://waste-reduction. suite101.com/article.cfm/environmental_hazards_of_electronic_waste accessed The study published in the paper titled “Optimal Recycling for Printed Wiring Boards (PWBs) in India” by David Rochat and Rolf Widmer from Swiss Federal Institute for Material Science and Research (EMPA), Christian Hagelüken from Umicore Precious Metals Refining, Miriam Keller from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), available at the link http://www. preciousmetals.umicore.com/publications/ articles_by_umicore/electronic_scrap/ show_OptimalRecyclingForPWBinIndia. pdf Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes

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and their Disposal from http://www.basel. int/convention/about.html Hazardous Waste Regulations related information from http://regulations.delaware. gov/AdminCode/title7/1000/1300/1302/ index.shtml#TopOfPage and http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/ hwRegulation/default.htm (accessed 4th January 2010)] IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development).1996. Global Green Standards: ISO 14000 and Sustainable Development. Winnipeg: IISD, Denton, C. 1996. “Environmental Management Systems: ISO Standard 14000.” International Environnent Reporter 19(16): 715–717, Clapp, Jennifer. 1998. “The Privatization of Global Environmental Governance: ISO 14000 and the Developing World.” Global Governance 4(3): 295-316, Begley, Ronald. 1996. “ISO 14000: A Step toward Industry Self-Regulation.” Environmental Science and Technology News 30(7): 298A S 510: Electronic Waste Recycling Promotion and Consumer Protection Act, Final Report, and the Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management I Master of Public Administration Program in Environmental Science and Policy Columbia University, August 18, 2006

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Chapter 36

Smart Software Applications for a Low Carbon Economy Aditya Bates m-Objects Pty Ltd, Australia

ABSTRACT There are changes underway in the world energy and power systems because of climate change, which will result in smart and intelligent infrastructure for the new energy management and power system. Smart grid software will play an important part in making this new infrastructure intelligent. This chapter investigates software applications that have a potential to be developed for a new low carbon economy. In addition, this paper explains what the standard bodies and user groups driving the development of these new smart software applications. The chapter will also discuss the control points where software can be added to smart grid infrastructure for a low carbon economy.

INTRODUCTION The energy and power system infrastructure created by the utilities are unidirectional and have largely remained the same with purpose of transmitting and distributing electricity from generators to consumers. The current grid is over engineered to withstand peak demands, which are infrequent and thus, making it inefficient. Farhangi (2010) states on the current energy and power system infrastructure that “It converts only one-third of fuel energy into electricity, withDOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch036

out recovering the waste heat. Almost 8% of its output is lost along its transmission lines, while 20% of its generation capacity exits to meet peak demand only (i.e., it is in use only 5% of the time).” Climate change, increasing demand in energy and development of innovative new internet technology are converging with current grid to drive the development of new energy efficient smart grid to help mankind meet the challenges of climate change. A Smart grid according to the United State Department of Energy (DOE) would have the following characteristics (source: www.netl.doe. gov/moderngrid/):

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Smart Software Applications for a Low Carbon Economy

1. Self healing – Sensors with controls to respond using intelligent software to predict, detect and respond to problems. 2. Motivate consumers to actively participate in the operation of the grid – Intelligent smart software connected to the energy network helping consumer’s take better control of homes and business for a low carbon economy. 3. Resist attack – Fault tolerant and resistant to physical and cyber attacks. 4. Quality power – Software to help consumers choose quality of power at different prices. 5. Generation options– Accommodate wide variety of generation options, including green power. 6. Electricity market – Technology to provide real time price of energy to the market to mitigate energy demand and thus bringing more consumer and sellers to the electricity market. 7. Run more efficiently - ICT components to optimise assets, reduce costs, enable low cost generation and increase asset management visibility by removing bottleneck and congestion in the grid network. In addition, help with the reporting and strategic planning of the asset. Smart grid would make consumers use energy more economically and is being linked to renewable energy targets and reducing carbon emissions. Smart grid should add functionality for monitoring, analysis, communication and control capabilities to maximize the efficiency and throughput to reduce the energy consumption for a low carbon economy. In addition, would provide visibility and pervasive control, to help utilities to transfer energy economically and efficiently. Smart grid would be based on advanced information and communication technology (ICT) components like microprocessor, software technology, communications and the internet (Tai & O’hOgain, 2009). These features are compared in Table 1.

Table 1. The current grid and the Smart grid with smart software (source: www.pjm.com) 20th Century Grid

21st Century Grid

Electromechanical/Analogy

Digital

One-way communications (if any)

Two-way communications

Built for centralized generation

Accommodates distributed generation

Radial topology

Network topology

Few sensor

Monitors and sensors throughout

“Blind”

Self-monitoring

Manual restoration

Semi-automated restoration and eventually, self-healing

Prone to failures and blackouts

Adaptive protection and islanding

Check equipment manually Emergency decisions by committee and phone

Check equipment remotely Decision support systems, predictive reliability

Limited control over power flows

Pervasive control systems

Limited price information

Full price information

Few consumer choices

Many consumer choices

These new ICT components are a set of devices that take measurements and respond to commands and communicate with each other and various control centers. In addition, these devices are also smart and react independently, collaborate and cooperate with other devices in a well coordinated manner. These new smart components, work in conjunction with the old components in the current infrastructure. These new ICT components make the existing grid smart by adding software at control points. They add intelligence functionality as a new layer to the existing infrastructure for the development of new applications and new business process. Consumers and businesses will have access to timely and user friendly information to make smart choices around energy use, helping the utility business model will change, migrating away from regulated entities to supporting customer options and choices (Geisler, 2009).

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The Smart grid is also made up of Microgrids. Farhangi(2010) states that “Microgrids are defined as interconnected networks of distributed energy systems (loads and resources) that can function whether they are connected to or separate from the electricity grid.” Microgrids as a unit contains renewable or cogeneration power plant to meet the local needs. They feed the unused energy back to the grid allowing to services variety of loads including residential and industrial. Power storage is done at local and distributed sites to reduce the effect of intermittent renewable power generation. It enables an intelligent energy management network, which allows for command and control of all elements of the network. The data exchange highway is a communication infrastructure to exchange information, status and commands securely and reliably to adjust and control their performance and service levels (Farhangi, 2010).

CHALLENGES There are some challenges associated with Smart grid(Ipakchi, A., &Farrokh, A, 2009): 1. The requirements of smart grid are not well established enough to allow the development of detailed technical and business specifications. External factor like the economy, oil price, political and government regulation need to be well established before the development of the specification 2. Many of the changing requirements are incremental and evolving in nature. To add these incremental capabilities might not be an economical and operationally acceptable option. 3. Smart grid functions touch many existing legacy systems and operational business processes. As such, any implementation of smart grid functionality will require agreement and endorsement by all stakeholders.

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4. Minimum impact on existing operations will be required because the reliable supply of electric power cannot be disrupted. The rollout should not have any negative impact on the existing operations. 5. The smart grid requires interfaces with smart devices, customers, service providers, external users, and energy markets. The data interfaces with external and third party systems are being defined and all security and integration issues not addressed. 6. Many of the smart grid applications are new, with limited technical standards. The standards are emerging and business practices are not fully established. 7. The business cases for smart-grid initiatives should be made based on operational and societal benefits because of the high cost of implementation. 8. The regulatory framework for rate-based smart grid needs to be tested and developed.

STANDARDS There are various organizations across the world that are working on developing the framework and standards for the development of smart devices and software applications, which can plug into common standards and interoperability framework(source: www.microsoft.com/utilities): 1. In the United States, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developing a framework of smart grid standards for device and system interoperability. 2. The International Electro technical Commission (IEC) is developing comprehensive framework of common technical standards for software applications. 3. Draft Guide for smart grid Interoperability of Energy Technology and Information Technology Operation with the Electric Power System (EPS), and End-Use

Smart Software Applications for a Low Carbon Economy

Applications and Loads called IEEE P2030 is being developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). 4. European Technology Platforms (ETPs) created by the European Commission for creating the electricity networks of the future. 5. A framework for smart grid deployment and is being supported with billions of dollars from the Chinese government. Some of the leading standards being developed are IEC Common information model (CIM) to enable vertical and lateral integration of applications, smart metering standard ANSI C12.22 and IEC 61850 standard for substation automation.

SMART GRID SOFTWARE An existing software command and control system currently deployed in the current grid is the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). SCADA systems give limited control, but not real time control which the distributed intelligent grid systems would provide. Basic SCADA systems have matured into advanced applications of distributed management systems (DMSs) (McDonald, 2008). The grid would change into a distributed intelligent grid system over a period of time as new smart software is added to the existing grid infrastructure. Distributed intelligent grid would be achieved by introducing software technologies to existing distributed networks to help with efficiency of assets, demand side management and developing new revenue models. Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is a two-way communication for better asset management. AMI allows utilities to read consumer’s consumption records remotely. In addition, monitoring voltage and current at real time and allowing for connection and disconnection of services as required by customers service level parameters. Through AMI, utilities meet the objec-

tives of load management and revenue protection. AMI objectives are achieved by imposing caps on consumption, in addition to developing new business models to raise revenue and control cost (Farhangi, 2010). Further, distributed command and control strategies over the AMI will result in distributed automation. Allowing for monitoring and control which are located on the feeder and switching intelligent nodes in distribution of energy. Distributed command and control would enable reconfiguration of the interconnected network of feeders to restore energy to customers, isolate fault or reconfigure the network (Farhangi, 2010). Smart software take measurement and respond to commands but reacts independently and collaborate with other devices between substation, distribution, end customers enabling changing consumer behaviour and attitudes towards energy, resulting in energy saving and energy efficiency. Smart software enables consumers interact to adjust their energy use and reduce the energy cost. Smart software intelligent and a self healing system predicts failure and takes action to avoid these failures by using a variety of generation options, central, distributed, intermittent and mobile.

SOFTWARE CONTROL POINT The Smart grid will be a distributed system. Smart grid would include distributed generation and storage, distributed system automation and optimization, customer involvement and plug in hybrid electric vehicles, requiring more intelligence and control beyond current grid. The Smart grid would involve monitoring and control of every power line, piece of equipment on the distribution system resulting in collection of a data that will be analyzed for making decisions for large number of control points in the Smart grid infrastructure. Smart grid infrastructure will allow the functionality to provide distributed generation

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Figure 1. Intelligent grid infrastructure(based on Momoh, 2008)

Table 2. Smart grid applications control points (based on Momoh, 2008) Application

Control Point

Fault and stability diagnosis

Intelligent control schemes and device management

Demand side management analysis

Optimize units and energy usage

System Restoration

Min loss voltage and optimal switching

Network Reconfiguration

Optimal plant survivability with intelligence

Distributed generation for emergency use

Intelligent controls and demand reduction

Reactive power control

Managing control coordination

ware and controls for distributed generation using renewable energy resources.

of energy, Smart grid network reconfiguration, system restoration, demand side management, power control and fault diagnosis as show in the Figure 1 (Momoh, 2008). These grid functionalities’ would be provided by intelligent software at various control points in the smart grid infrastructure. The functions of control applications as listed in the Table 2 include: 1. Voltage stability, fault detection and prevention in the network by control application based on intelligent control schemes and data; 2. Reactive power control based on intelligent software coordination controls; 3. Fault analysis and reconfiguration schemes based on intelligent switching controls; 4. Power generation and load balancing with the use of intelligent switching operation; 5. Distributed generation and demand side management using demand response soft-

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Intelligent control components in the grid infrastructure act as remote agents for operation control and management of the grid asset. These intelligent control components make localised decisions, coordinate with other intelligent components and monitor the assets, communicate warning message to control centres. In addition, they also carry out automated operational changes and corrective tasks to rectify problems and deliver efficient integrated solution for generation, transmission and distribution of energy via the grid network.

APPLICATIONS Distributed command and control software over the smart grid infrastructure will result in new application and business models. Some of the software control applications that can be developed for Smart grid infrastructure to enable a new low carbon economy are as follows: 1. Regulatory application for reporting and audit compliance would also need to be

Smart Software Applications for a Low Carbon Economy

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

developed by government organizations. This application would purely be used for compliance and governance. Market monitoring software application to enable better usage and capacity planning for the energy market by charging high fee during peak hours. Outage management application for developing an outage plan for maintenance and expansion work. The data is collected by the outage management applications from substation, transformers, distribution feeds to develop or recommend an outage management plan. Self healing application fault detection, isolation and service restoration. Application would be rules based, which would collect data from sensor and meters installed on the Feeder Terminal Units (FTUs). Smart grid applications will isolate the faulted feeder section and restore the service by connecting it to a working feeder section. Asset management application using advanced algorithms and the available information like customer monthly bills, transformer capacity, and real-time feeder information to estimate the load and manage the asset. A visual application for managing system controls. Touch application to reconfigure the distributed network to minimize network energy loses and manage the load among the substations. Contingency analysis application to manage customer service and work management. This application analyses potential customer services issues and fault scenarios which can affect the customer or impact the safety of the network. Therefore, proactively manage network resulting in least number of customer outages and more reliability. Smart appliance applications for home to track usage at a particular time of the day. These applications would also enable, disable or change customer service levels

requirements. These applications can also control appliances. For example, turn off the heater during peak hours. 9. Security applications because data communication over the grid network can be used by malicious hacker to manipulate the energy cost of payment details for their own monitory gains. In addition to, protect customer privacy, security applications would need to be developed to protect the energy use information stored on the meters or transferred over the grid network. 10. As most complex software applications have bugs, the software for the Smart grid will also have bugs. A new software platform needs to be developed enabling and distributing software patches. A new application for isolation of software defected system also needs to be developed.

CONCLUSION In summary, it can be concluded that smart software will play an important part in meeting the changes underway in the world energy and power systems. The challenge of doing more from what we already have by sharing the infrastructure, using existing power technology and adding new ICT technologies. The data exchange network developed using the ICT components along with existing power network will deliver intelligent smart grid infrastructure for the new energy management system for new low carbon economy.

REFERENCES Fan, J., &Borlase, S.(2009). The Evolution of Distribution. IEEE power & energy magazine, 7, (2), (pp. 63-68) Farhangi, H (2010).The Path of the Smart Grid. IEEE power & energy magazine 8(1), (pp. 18-28)

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Ipakchi, A., &Farrokh, A. (2009). Grid of the Future. IEEE power & energy magazine, 7(2), (pp. 52-62).

Tai, H., &O’hOgain, E. (2009). Behind the buzzeight smart grid trends shapping the industry. IEEE power & energy magazine, 7(2), (pp. 88-96).

McDonald, J (2008). Leader or follower – Developing the smart grid business case. IEEE power & energy magazine, 6(6), (pp. 18 – 24).

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Microsoft. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www. microsoft.com/utilities Microsoft Power and Utilities (2009). Smart Energy Reference Architecture. Modern grid initiative.(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.netl.doe.gov/moderngrid/. Momoh, J. A. (2009). Smart Grid Design for Efficient and Flexible Power Networks Operation and Control, Power Systems Conference and Exposition, 2009. PSCE apos;09. IEEE/PES Volume, Issue, 15-18 (pp 1 – 8). PJM. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pjm.com Tai, H., &O’hOgain, E. (2009). Behind the buzzeight smart grid trends shapping the industry. IEEE power & energy magazine, 7 (2), (pp. 88-96).

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Smart Software: Software for smart grid. Low Carbon Economy: Economy which has a minimal output of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. ICT Components: Information and communication technology components like microprocessor, software technology, communications and the internet. Smart Grid: Modern electricity grid that is efficient, smart and intelligent. AMI: Advanced metering infrastructure. CIM: IEC Common information model. SCADA: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. Green Power: Electricity generated from renewable energy resources.

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Chapter 37

Low Power Techniques for Greener Hardware Kaushal Buch Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) & Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India Rahul Dubey Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, India Saket Buch Indian Space Research Organization, India

ABSTRACT The last two decades have seen an exponential growth in the fields of electronic communication and information technology. Not surprisingly, ICT devices have become an integral part of our daily life. As demands for the development of more compact and versatile devices arise, there is mounting pressure on the designers to efficiently use the available resources. The new age ICT has become a matter of serious concern for the environment due to increased power consumption by the devices, the backbone infrastructure and eventual electronic waste disposal. This chapter describes techniques to reduce power consumption in ICT by reducing power at the very basal level of usage, which is the hardware. Careful architecture and design in hardware that keeps the principles of carbon reduction in mind can not only increase the efficiency of the device but also help in making it a green device. The primary focus of the chapter is to reduce the power utilized in the computation part of the device. The chapter also provides a background to other studies being carried out to reduce power consumed by the device as a whole.

INTRODUCTION The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has grown manifold in the past decade. ICT technology and devices have, due to extensive networking, made the world smaller. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch037

The large proliferation of these devices has led to considerable power consumption. One approach towards greener ICT is to optimize the power consumed by numerous ICT devices around us. Examination of the overall structure of IT usage in daily life leads to its categorization into two areas – Personal resources and Common resources. Personal resources include mobile

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Low Power Techniques for Greener Hardware

Figure 1. Commonly used ICT equipments and information flow

phones, desktops, laptops, palmtops, PDAs etc. to name but a few. Common resources comprise of bigger infrastructural elements like routers, network switches, enterprise servers, server farms for data centres and so on. Most of the above mentioned devices are digital devices or contain large sections of digital hardware and they are shown in Figure 1. The feature additions to the electronic gadgets and the processing requirements of large systems have made it almost mandatory to design and develop hardware which consumes less power, making power a primary design constraint for digital designs at all levels. We shall discuss the basic techniques of power reduction in both these categories of IT devices.

PERSONAL ICT DEVICES Personal ICT devices include desktops, laptops, mobile phones, PDAs etc. The operation of personal ICT devices can be simplified into three main functions: Communication, Computation and User interface. As the size of these devices keeps shrinking, the demand for reducing the power consumption keeps increasing.

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These devices are widely used in today’s IT age. As the technology advances, these devices have evolved into stand-alone electronic equipments encompassing several applications. Consider a normal mobile phone that has now become an integral part of ICT system and human life. The same phone before a decade was used as a communication equipment, providing some basic features like phone number memory, call list and some basic settings. Today, mobile phones possess several features and are used for purposes ranging from communication to entertainment to health care. All these features require a fairly large amount of hardware. The shrinking chip geometries and the Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) industry following the Moore’s law have been the basis for all the exponential growth that these ICT devices have registered. However, with the increasing need for hardware, these devices also need processors which are low power, especially because these are battery powered. The battery size is also a concern for making compact mobile phones. To support a large number of features, a high-performance processor is required. Similarly, in case of other personal ICT devices like desktops and laptops, there have been similar trends and these devices have a need of

Low Power Techniques for Greener Hardware

hardware acceleration for graphics and other multimedia-intensive applications. With the need to have near real-time processing capabilities, the processors as well as the operating systems are tuned to achieve optimal performance. Once again, the power utilization of the processors has increased several folds. There are several methods being considered for greening of this hardware by making it low power. The maximum utilization of power is by the microprocessor or the Central Processing Unit (CPU). Power is also utilized in the cooling of this microprocessor chip (integrated circuit), which is usually done by using a fan on a casing (heat sink) mounted over the chip. As technology advanced, there was a need to control the power dissipation in the processor chips. This is because; more features in hardware lead to more logic and thus, need for more solid state devices that form these logic circuits. Now we shall focus on how power dissipation occurs and then subsequently look at the solutions. Of course, low power system design is a subject by itself, but we shall look at it from its overall contribution in greening the ICT process. We would slightly digress from the topic of greener ICT towards digital design. How are digital systems designed? What is the basic element? Let us consider microprocessor for instance. A microprocessor is made up of several logic circuits and each logic circuit consists of several transistors. Hence, the basic element is the transistor, which is a solid state device (made up of semiconducting material). We do have methods and materials below transistor level, but it is out of the scope of the chapter and hence we shall limit ourselves to transistor, forming the base of the pyramid, in the constitutional hierarchy of an ICT device. Power dissipation in a CMOS (Complementary Metallic Oxide Semiconductor) transistor is given by the equation (Yeap, 1998) P = f*Cload*VDD2 P = Power dissipation (in watts)

f = frequency at which the data transitions i.e. Pdt * fclk, where Pdt is the probability of data transition and fclk is the clock frequency. VDD = Supply voltage (in volts) Thus, it is clear that the power consumption can be controlled by the clock frequency and transition probability of input signal, capacitance of the logic circuit and the supply voltage. All digital circuit designs use one of these parameters to control power dissipation. For instance, clock gating is a very commonly used method in integrated circuit design. In this method, the clock is temporarily stopped for all those blocks that are not functional at any given point of time. Similarly, some microprocessors also incorporate a method called dynamic voltage frequency scaling, where the frequency and voltage of a particular block or a sub-system of a microprocessor are changed under certain performance conditions (Zhai et. al., 2004). Even in case of custom chip designs, there are methods in which the transition probability (Buch, 2009), frequency and voltage can be controlled. For applications which need streaming data and operate at higher frequencies, certain bus coding and data reordering techniques are used that reduce the transition probability and help reduce power utilization by such logic blocks (Buch, 2009). A popularly used technique for reduction of power in microprocessor is Dynamic Voltage Frequency Scaling (DVFS). DVFS reduces both the frequency (i.e. the rate at which the instructions are processed by the processor) and the voltage (since power varies as square of voltage). Intel’s SpeedStep (Intel, 2004) uses CPU speed throttling. Mostly, DVFS is managed by the software or the operating system that runs on a processor. In DVFS, for each frequency, a corresponding voltage is decided to ensure power-performance trade-off. However, there are several design considerations at hardware level for successfully implementing DVFS. Also, these days, custom

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designs for low power and high performance applications like Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing implement DVFS (Chen et. al., 2008). Usually, there are modes in DVFS, and based on the CPU load and performance requirements, an appropriate mode of operation for the processor can be selected. Similarly Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has also come up with a technology called “Cool ’n’ Quiet”, for its Athlon series of processors (AMD, 2004). The concept is to scale the frequency up to 30 times a second, based on the application that is being processed. The technology is aimed at providing a cool and quiet running of the system by virtue of reduction in power consumption. At system level, there are several ways in which the system can be put into an idle state, thereby reducing power. Processors also support various forms of sleep mode or standby mode, where the entire processor or a part of it or part or whole of the system, undergoes very low power consumption, by either stopping the clocks or reducing the voltage. The above methods are implemented in almost all the processors, especially in those that are used in battery operated devices. Mobile processors operate at much lower power than the normal processors. As, the VLSI technology has enabled the devices to work at much faster rate and is continuing to do so, there are also several challenges in terms of reduction in power consumption in the devices to come. Methods to reduce dynamic power would become more significant as the technology progresses. International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) is a work-group that investigates the requirements and trends of semiconductor industry across several dimensions. Power consumption is one of the major constraints in chip design, and the ITRS has identified it as one of top three challenges. The primary reason cited for this is the increasing worldwide usage of information technology devices (ITRS, 2008).

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Most of the above stated methods are used in low power processors. These processors are amongst the main blocks for the operation of mobile phones and other battery operated gadgets. At the same time, there are also processors that are used in desktops and other computation intensive applications which are made low power consuming to enable reduction in energy consumption and additional power utilization for cooling systems. For example, Intel Atom is a low power processor which is used in media phones (Intel, 2009). ARM has also come up with a very low power processor called Cortex A-8 (ARM, 2005), which has special architectural modifications, that help in significant reduction of power, without substantial compromise in performance. We saw methods for power reduction in digital hardware and also how processors manage to consume less power. Another advantage of making the entire system low power is the ease with which to switch over to alternative sources of energy for powering up these devices. For example, in order to operate a mobile phone on solar energy, the power consumption needs to be low so that the solar powered phones can be viable in practice. Samsung has announced availability of such phones (Samsung, 2009). This is a welcome development towards greener ICT.

WIRELESS DEVICES Another major power consumer is the communication device. A wireless personal device needs to communicate with another system providing the communication facilities, such as Internet Service Provider (ISP) for internet connectivity, or to some other similar device to exchange data. This process of communication involves several stages of packetizing, error control coding, data transfer and other tasks, depending on the communication protocol. It has been noted that a significant amount of power is consumed in this process. Sometimes the component of energy

Low Power Techniques for Greener Hardware

required by the communication device (like a WLAN card for instance) may be larger than the power consumed by other systems during the operation of that device (Atheros, 2003). This is attributed to the fact that a wireless device not only transmits power but also needs to interact with the processor to transfer data to and from the memory and configure the card with the system software, all of which consumes power. Techniques have been proposed to reduce this power consumption by changing the architecture of the processor, to make it more protocol friendly, and they have also yielded affirmative results (Atheros, 2003). There is also a quest to develop protocols which incorporate the concept of low power at the architectural level. Bambos (1998) has suggested various techniques based on transmission power control through the mathematical analysis of wireless networks. Several changes have been proposed in existing protocols like Bluetooth for making them operate in low power mode. It has been observed that for shorter distances, Bluetooth protocol in low power modes does provide a good performance thus confirming to the fact that in many cases, according to the system requirements, low power techniques may be successfully implemented (Cano et. al., 2007). Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth have an option of working in several power saving modes in order to cater to various power – performance

Figure 2. Comparison of the power consumption for each protocol. (Data Source: Lee et. Al, 2007.)

requirements like Sniff, Hold, Park, Standby for Bluetooth and Doze for Wi-Fi (Ferro et. al., 2005). The typical power consumption of different wireless standards is shown in Figure 3. The choice of Wi-Fi and UWB or Bluetooth and ZigBee is based on the power budget and the type of data to be transferred. Bluetooth is designed to work in short range, low power consumption and short links whereas Wi-Fi is designed to be used for higher data rates though at the cost of increased power consumption (Lee et. al., 2007). As the bit rate of Bluetooth and ZigBee is less, the normalized energy consumption for data transfer is greater than that of Wi-Fi or UWB as they are primarily meant for low data transfer applications.

Figure 3. Power distribution of various IT and non-IT equipment in a 1 MW Data Center (Source: Sawyer, 2004)

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USER INTERFACE The earlier part of this chapter discussed reduction of computation energy using a number of techniques. The omnipresent user interface on various ICT devices also contributes to the overall power consumption. Recent advances in LCD, LED, Light Emitting Polymers and other display devices have significantly reduced the power consumption. Studies have been carried out to reduce power consumption of currently available technologies and to propose newer kinds of display devices. Primarily the power consumption in such a case would be dependent upon the size, backlight illumination and the type of display technology used, amongst various other parameters. It has been observed that power can be saved by intelligent handling of displays, like backlight control (Pasricha et. al., 2003). Studies have also been carried out to optimize on the size and quality of displays for various applications for longer battery life and energy economy (Mayo et. al., 2005).

PROTOCOLS FOR REDUCING POWER CONSUMPTION FOR BATTERY POWERED DEVICES As seen earlier in the chapter, the constantly increasing power requirements are posing a challenge to fulfill the needs using battery power. Making a device power efficient would make it possible to drive the device with a smaller and cheaper battery with an increased discharge interval. The consumer electronics industry has therefore come up with protocols for systematically reducing the power utilization of ICT devices. There are several intelligent software checks or protocols that monitor a device’s work load and simultaneously take action for reducing the power. These power management techniques work by coordinating the hardware interfaces with the operating system and application software. Examples of such

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techniques are APM (Advanced Power Management) and ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface). The APM or Advanced Power Management provides device-independent power aware software and APM driver which interfaces with the APM BIOS. The power control is achieved by monitoring the system power requirements. As system resources remain unutilized, the power is reduced till the service is suspended. The APM driver which is interfaced with APM-BIOS enables the application software to control the underlying hardware without any knowledge of the hardware interface (Intel et. al., 1996). ACPI standard was introduced with the objective of replacing existing industry PM standards with a view to enhance the power management functionality and robustness and to accelerate the industry-wide use of power management techniques (Hewlett Packard et. al., 2009). The ACPI gives the operating system a direct control over the power management and plug-andplay functions of a computer. ACPI provides a platform for interfacing with the existing BIOS and operating systems, thereby making itself a hardware-independent interface for providing power management at all the levels in a system. The ACPI performs the functions of system power management, device power management, processor power management, battery management and thermal management. Advanced protocols for power management for networking and communication devices exercise power control at data-link, network and transport layers. At data-link layer, they primarily avoid unnecessary re-transmissions, avoid channel collisions, and provide stand-by and turn-off modes when not transmitting or receiving. Network layer power management considers the route relaying load, reduces frequency of sending control messages, optimizes control headers and provides efficient route configuration techniques. At transport layer, these power aware protocols help avoid repeated transmissions, handle packet loss

Low Power Techniques for Greener Hardware

intelligently and use power-efficient error control schemes (Toh, 2002).

ROUTERS The impact of Metcalfe’s law was realized with the coming of the internet. With millions of users across the globe, the traffic on the internet has increased exponentially over the past decade. Majority of the ICT equipments are networked in some fashion. For quite some time, these networks exchanged text data such as emails. Lately, there has been a substantial increase in voice and video applications. An internet data packet consists of different fields, comprising of source address and destination address. Contemporary routers look at the destination field of each packet of data and consult a routing table for routing the data packet. With streaming audio and video applications, this process can be shortened, as source and destination do not change for the time duration that the data is streaming. The Anagram FR-1000 router exploits this attribute and routes only the first packet of a flow of streaming data (Roberts, 2009). This has resulted in reduced work load for the routing and queuing chips and in substantial power savings as compared to a conventional router. This demonstrates that algorithmic changes to data traffic management techniques will continue to aid in lowering power consumption.

DATA CENTRES The need for large data centres has grown along with the internet traffic. Data centres are an important component of modern day ICT infrastructure and their numbers will only grow in the years to come. These centres have variety of servers, catering to web hosting, email, database and data streaming applications. Data centres of large corporations have tens of thousands of servers, with each dual processor server consuming 200

watts at peak performance (Katz, 2009). On a basic server, the CPU consumes maximum power, followed by memory, power supply inefficiency, disks, PCI slots, motherboard and fan. To save on CPU power consumption in the server, when the load on a server goes low, voltage and frequency to the server’s processor are scaled down, to limit dynamic power consumption. This follows the dynamic power equation for a transistor, as discussed earlier. The power supply unit in a server consists of an ac to dc converter. The unit is designed for a high load factor. Since most data centres have loads of 10 to 15 percent, the power supply unit ends up operating at lower efficiency, thus dissipating a lot of power as heat. In a typical data centre, other than the servers, large percentage of power is consumed by non IT house load. These equipments include Transformers, Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS), Cooling or Chilling plants. The non-IT house load accounts for 70 percent of the total load while the IT load is 30 percent. Distribution of various loads in a data center is shown in Figure 4. Contemporary systems take advantage of closed loop control using Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and electronic variable speed drives for cooler/ chiller pump and fan applications. This helps in considerably reducing the power of the auxiliary equipment. Older systems designed for mainframe data centers were power inefficient because they used mechanical throttling for control of flow rate instead of variable speed motor drives and PLC based closed loop systems.

FUTURE DIRECTION An overview of power consumption and methods for implementing low power designs in various ICT devices has been provided in the chapter. There are the areas in which extensive research is being carried out for reduction of power. These are display technology, semiconductor materials, semiconductor device technology, low power

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protocol development for wireless hand-held devices and others, to name a few. As the semiconductor device technology is shrinking, the overall performance is improving for the same amounts of power. However, the shrinking geometries have posed a challenge for the reduction of leakage power, which is gradually becoming a dominating component. Techniques such as data reordering and effective voltage-frequency scaling are continuously being refined to improve upon the efficiency at system level. For off-chip buses with large capacitances, a class of bus coding techniques has come up to mitigate power loss during inter-chip data transfer. At microprocessor level, many algorithmic techniques and low power data crunching techniques are under development, to reduce power in this most widely used element – the CPU. Wireless technology has come up with set of power-aware protocols and low-power wireless protocols are major area of research today. Foundries manufacturing semiconductor components are also becoming power aware and there is a class of foundries that is going green. Hence, ICT is seeing a major revolution in terms of greening of hardware, in terms of design and implementation, which would remain a primary focus for several decades to come.

CONCLUSION As the use of ICT and its devices is only expected to rise in the future, it is imperative that power saving technique is incorporated in their design. Power efficiency not only extends the battery life of handheld ICT devices but also reduces the power used in recharging these devices. This chapter has looked at different ICT components such as personal computing devices, wireless communication standards, user interfaces, protocols, routers and

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data centres and presented methodologies which are used to lower power consumption. The wide range of methods of power-aware design presented in the chapter indicates the importance given to low power design by designers at every level.

REFERENCES Advanced Micro Devices. (2004). Cool ‘n’ Quiet Technology Installation Guide for AMD Athlon 64 Processor based systems - Revision 0.04. Retrieved on 21st November, 2009, from http://www.amd. com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/Cool_N_Quiet_Installation_Guide3.pdf ARM. (2005).Architecture and Implementation of ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessor. White Paper, ARM. Retrieved on 27th November, 2009 from http://www.arm.com/pdfs/TigerWhitepaperFinal. pdf Atheros Communications. (2003). Power consumption and Energy Efficiency Comparisons of WLAN Products - White Paper. Retrieved 24th November, 2009, from http://www.atheros.com/ pt/whitepapers/atheros_power_whitepaper.pdf Bambos, N. (1998). Towards Power Sensitive Network Architectures in Wireless Communications: Concepts, Issues and Design Aspects. IEEE Personal Communications June 1999, 50-59. Buch, K. (2009). HDL Design Methods for Low Power Implementation. EDA DesignLine. Retrieved November 24, 2009, from http://www. edadesignline.com/howto/215901438 Cano, J., Cano, J., Gonzalez, E., Carlos, C., & Manzoni, P. (2007). How Does Energy Consumption Impact Performance in Bluetooth. ACM SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review, 35(Issue 3), 7–9. doi:10.1145/1328690.1328694

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Chen, Y., Lin, Y., Tsao, Y., & Lee, C. (2008). A 2.4 Gsamples/s DVFS FFT processor for MIMO OFDM Communication Systems. IEEE Transactions of Solid-State Circuits, 43(5), 1260–1273. doi:10.1109/JSSC.2008.920320 Ferro, E., & Potorti, F. (2005, Feb.). Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Wireless Protocols: A Survey and a Comparison. IEEE Wireless Communications Magazine, 12(1), 12–26. doi:10.1109/MWC.2005.1404569 Hewlett Packard Corporation, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Phoenix Technologies Inc. & Toshiba Corporation (2009). Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification - Revision 4.0. June 16, 2009. Intel Corporation. (2004). Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology for the Intel Pentium M Processor - White Paper. Retrieved on 10th November, 2009, from ftp://download.intel.com/design/network/ papers/30117401.pdf Intel Corporation. (2009). A Blueprint for Development – Intel media phone reference design breathes new life into Voice Service. Design Brief, Intel Media Phone Reference Design. Retrieved on 21st November, 2009, from http://download.intel. com/netcomms/technologies/voice/321533.pdf Intel Corporation & Microsoft Corporation (1996). Advanced Power Management BIOS Interface Specification - Revision 1.2. ITRS. (2008). ITRS Update 2008 Overview. International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. Retrieved 24th November, 2009, from http:// ww.itrs.net/Links/2008ITRS/Home2008.htm Katz, R. (2009). Tech Titans Building Boom. IEEE Spectrum, (February): 36–39. Lee, J.-S., Su, Y.-W., & Shen, C.-C. (Nov. 2007). A Comparative Study of Wireless Protocols: Bluetooth, UWB, ZigBee and Wi-Fi. Presented at the 33rd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IECON), Taipei, Taiwan.

Mayo, N., & Ranganathan, P. (2005). Energy Consumption in Mobile Devices: Why Future Systems Need Requirements-Aware Energy Scale-Down. Falsafi, B. & Vijaykumar, T. (Eds.), Power Aware Computer Systems (pp. 26-40). Berlin, Germany: Springer. Minas, L., & Ellison, B. (2009). Energy Efficiency for Information Technology: How to reduce power consumption in Servers and Data Center. Intel Press. Pasricha, S., Mohapatra, S., Luthra, M., Dutt, N. & Venkatasubramanian, N. (Oct. 2003). Reducing Backlight Power Consumption for Streaming Video Applications on Mobile Handheld Devices. Presented at Embedded Systems for Real-Time Multimedia (ESTIMedia 2003), Newport Beach, CA. Pering, T., Agrawal, Y., Gupta, R. and Want, R. (June 2006). CoolSpots: Reducing the Power Consumption of Wireless Mobile Devices with Multiple Radio Interfaces. Presented at MobiSys’06, Uppsala, Sweden (pp. 220-232). Roberts, L. (2009). A Radical New Router. IEEE Spectrum, (July): 30–35. Samsung Corporation. (2009). Sprint Expands Environmental Leadership with New Initiatives and Debut of Eco-Friendly Samsung Reclaim. Samsung News Releases. Retrieved 24th November, 2009, from http://www.samsung.com/us/business/ semiconductor/newsView.do?news_id=1035 Sawyer, R. (2004). Calculating Total Power Requirements for Data Centers. American Power Conversion - White Paper. Toh, C. (2002). Ad-Hoc Mobile Wireless Networks: Protocols and Systems. Delhi, India: Pearson Education. Yeap, G. (1998). Practical Low Power Digital VLSI Design. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

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Zhai, B., Blaauw, D., Sylvester, D., & Flautner, K. (2004). Theoretical and Practical Limits of Dynamic Voltage Scaling. Proceedings of the 41st Annual Design Automation Conference, San Diego, CA.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Moore’s Law: It states that “the chip density doubles approximately every 18 months and the costs hold constant.” Metcalfe’s law: It states that “the value of a communications network increases as the square of the number of users.” Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): A type of display which comes as a sleek flat panel and is used as a display device in almost all tcontemporary ICT devices like mobile phones, PDAs, and laptops.

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Complementary Metallic Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS): CMOS refers to a complementary-symmetry arrangement of n-channel (NMOS) and p-channel (PMOS) transistors. It serves as a basic building block for almost all complex digital circuits like microprocessors, semiconductor memories, FPGAs, to name a few. Router: Electronic equipment which is used for interconnecting two or more computers with each other or with the Internet.€ It selectively switches packets between computers, ensuring a simultaneous interconnection of computers in a particular network. Data Center: An ensemble of computers and storage systems and other systems for networking and non-IT requirements. Protocol: A set of rules used by ICT devices to interact with each other across a network.€

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Chapter 38

Integrating Green ICT in a Supply Chain Management System Bhuvan Unhelkar University of Western Sydney & MethodScience, Australia Yi-Chen Lan University of Western Sydney, Australia

ABSTRACT Green Integrated Supply Chain Management (GISCM) brings together various stakeholders in the supply chain within and outside the organization to help the organization improve its environmental credentials. To benefit both the business and the environmental bottom line, the supply chain management of an organization needs to be analyzed, planned and optimized for sourcing and deliveries and in an environmentally-conscious manner. Such analysis includes suppliers, customers, regulatory authorities and employees at all levels on an organization. Undoubtedly, electronic (Internet-based) systems deliver enterprises with a competitive advantage by opening up opportunities to streamline processes, reduce costs, increase customer patronage and enable straight thorough processing capabilities. These same characteristics of good SCM can be converted to handle environmental issues related to supply chain operation and processing. This chapter proposes a fundamental framework for creating and analyzing GISCM solutions.

INTRODUCTION This is the age of communication based around the Internet technologies. As a result, enterprises are able to conduct both inter-organizational and intra-organizational activities efficiently and effectively. This efficiency of communication has percolated in to many arenas of organizational DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch038

activity including customer relationships, resource planning, supply chains and, in the context of this discussion, green supply chains. Given the cost of logistics and its importance in order fulfillment processing, organizations may want to capitalize on the opportunity to communicate and to reengineer their supply chain operations that would sustain them in the globally competitive and challenging world of e-business. As discussed by Unhelkar and Dickens (2008), organizations also

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look for green advantages in their supply chains such as legal compliance and market positioning. Internet-based supply chain systems promise the capability to respond in real-time in changing product demand and supply, and offer easy integration functionality with backend information systems (PeopleSoft, 2002; Turner, 1993). Although a number of Internet-based supply chain systems (or integrated supply chain management systems – ISCM systems) are available for adoption, enterprises do not guarantee to implement the systems in conjunction with their existing information systems. Furthermore, the ISCM systems may not fulfill the connection and implementation requirements between participants in the supply chain. After the initial e-commerce hype had dissipated, surveys undertaken in 2001 tended to paint a different picture as to the success of these implementations. Smith (2002) concludes that at least 15% of supply chain system implementations during 2001 and 2002 were abandoned in the US alone. Although several reasons can be identified as the cause of implementation failure, the main problem rests with the fundamental analysis of ISCM operations and requirements. The purpose of this chapter is to provide considerations for the implementation of Integrated Supply Chain Environments (ISCE) that provide business efficiency and better environmental outcomes. This chapter will initially examine some of the available literature regarding ISCE. The fundamentals of ISCE – technologies and processes - are investigated1. These issues are discussed further and an analysis methodology is proposed to address some of the issues identified previously. This forms the basis of a construct for a theoretical model for enterprises to adopt in the analysis phase of developing Green ISCM (GISCM) systems. This chapter concludes with a future research direction in investigating technological issues of GISCM systems operation.

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GREEN INTEGRATED SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW GISCM involves the linking of Suppliers and Customers with the internal supply processes of an organization from an environmental perspective. Internal processes include both vertically integrated functional areas such as materials, sales and marketing, manufacturing, inventory and warehousing, distribution or perhaps, other independent companies, which involved in the supply chain (i.e. channel integration). Customers at one end of the process can potentially be a supplier downstream in the next process, ultimately supplying to the end user (Turner, 1993; Handfield et.al, 1999).

GISCM SOLUTIONS Whilst large-scale GISCM systems are yet to happen in some organizations, the concept of establishing information flows between points in the supply chain has been around since the 1980’s. Through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), customers and suppliers have communicated supply data through direct dial-up interfaces and other mediums (Zieger, 2001). However, the ability for the Internet to create a common communication infrastructure has made integration much more cost-effective. GISCM has promised to “deliver the right product to the right place at the right time and at the right price” (Comptroller, 2002). From the basic supply chain software development perspective, four vendors are well known: namely Oracle, SAP, PeopleSoft and Ariba. There are also a multitude of medium-sized vendors in the ISCM solution space (Armstrong, 2002) that need to be considered from a green perspective. All vendors claim that ISCM will enable the enterprise to respond, in real time, to changes in demand and supply. For instance, current ISCM solutions allow organizations to automate workflows concerning

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the execution and analysis of the following business activities (Peoplesoft, 2002; Comptroller, 2002; Gledhill, 2002). These activities are listed here from a Green ISCM viewpoint. 1. Planning: demand & supply planning, manage planning infrastructure to ensure environmental consciousness is included in these planning stages 2. Sourcing (buy-side) - strategic sourcing, eprocurement, services procurement, catalog management, collaborative contract / supply management, e-settlements / vendor payments – all these activities need to be measured for their carbon contribution to the organization’s bottom line. 3. Making (in-side) - product lifecycle management, demand planning, production management, production planning, flow production, event management. Green issues need to be incorporated in the making of the product including its contents, life and packaging. 4. Delivering (sell-side) - inventory, order management, promotions management, warehouse management, transportation management, delivery infrastructure management, e-bill payment, SCM portal. Disposal of consumed goods as well as handling of electronic waste to reduce pollution is vital here.

5. Returns handling (from customers) – since the organization that provides the material in the supply chain is in the best position to also accept returns from customers. 6. Maintenance – of equipments and related goods.

GISCM SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE Turner (1993) quoted that information systems would be the enabler of integrated logistics. Armstrong (2002) affirms that Turner’s view has come to fruition. Many of today’s ISCM systems use primarily web technology as the supporting infrastructure (Dalton et.al., 1998). GISCM require due consideration to the 3-tier or n-tier network architecture that can provide robust support for GISCM systems. For example, Advanced Software Design Inc. (2002) illustrated the 3-tier ISCM integration architecture (Figure 1) in use by the US Department of Defence (DoD). Suppliers and customers alike, access the DoD ISCM through the use of Web portals. This would also be the 1st tier of the GISCM. Web portals provide the necessary web services to establish a common Graphical interface for the DoD’s stakeholders in accessing supply chain data. Customers, suppliers, distributors and delivery agents can all access custom information and services supplied by the GISCM. Supplier ser-

Figure 1. Extending ISCM integration architecture for GISCM

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vices could include access to business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces, support and other push/pull supplier functionality. Alternately, customers can customize the site in order to access catalogues from the organization and external suppliers, customer transaction details and other product, customer and technical support. The portals are supported by messaging infrastructure (2nd tier), which provides the link to the underlying applications layer (3rd tier). The applications layer is independent of any particular interface (e.g. portals) and contains the necessary business logic and data access in order to perform operations. This includes access to SCM functionality, ERP systems and decision support systems. Data and business logic are also independently stored. The software architecture is mostly constructed in web-based environment that involves HTTP, server-side Java and XML. GISCM systems are generally no different than other business applications but still require some interfacing with old technologies such as aging ERPs and legacy systems (Zieger, 2001).

facturing organizations, the cost of the supply chain can represent 60-80% of their total cost base (Cottrill, 1997). One of the core benefits for driving efficiency through the supply chain is cost reduction. GISCM allows the organization to maximize profitability through Reduced Customer Service, Administration and Inventory costs. Less staff are required to maintain the supply chain and order/inventory details can be made available to customers directly without human intervention (Gledhill, 2002; Cottrill, 1997, Comptroller, 2002). Some organizations have quoted 25% cost reductions per transaction, despite a 20% increase in orders (Turner, 1993).

BENEFITS OF GISCM SYSTEMS

Customer

GISCM have the potential to deliver the enterprise with a competitive advantage by opening up opportunities to streamline processes, reduce costs, increase customer patronage and more thorough planning abilities (based on Turner, 1993, on ISCM). The benefits of GISCM systems can be categorized into number groups including financial, customer, planning, production, and implementation. Each of these groups is further discussed in the following subsections.

Retention

Financial Cost Reduction The aim of reducing cost can relate directly to reductions in carbon emissions. In some manu526

Quality Financial Information Another benefit is the improvement and reliability of financial information. GISCM systems maintain centralized databases, which are linked to other enterprise systems (e.g. ERP and CRM) providing integrity, consistency and real-time data access to managers so that they can manage the supply chain with an organizational perspective (Turner, 1993; Comptroller, 2002).

Supply chain systems, through customer portals, provides customers with an instantaneous and holistic view of the progress of their transactions within the organization. This level of service (coupled with benefits derived from Production) result in higher customer satisfaction levels and in turn, improve the firm’s ability to attract new customers and importantly, retain them. As customers now demand green credentials from an organization, having a GISCM can help in customer retention and market positioning. Organizations have achieved Customer Service Levels of 97% following the introduction of GISCM systems. This retention translates into greater revenue

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(Cottrill, 1997 ; Turner, 1993; Gledhill, 2002; Bergert 2001; Comptroller, 2002).

Behavior The ability to capture customer transactions and preferences online, provides the organization with the facility to track their behavior and in turn, customize products & services to cater for them (Bragg, 2002).

Promise Because of the level of workflow automation and inventory statistics, organizations are able to provide accurate estimates of when orders will be fulfilled at the time of ordering. This is known as ‘capable-to-promise’ (CTP) capability. This capability allows the organization’s customers to then plan more effectively (Gledhill, 2002).

Planning Companies with ISCM systems have the ability to mathematically and graphically observe the performance of the supply chain giving the manager the power to “plan and make things happen” (Turner, 1993). GISCM systems have the potential to provide the organization with the capabilities to derive more accurate demand planning with improved precision, create shorter planning and production cycles, establish one central data repository for the entire organization and facilitate enhanced communications through rapid information dissemination (based on Gledhill, 2002; Comptroller, 2002; Bragg, 2002).

Production GISCM provides the ability to holistically manage the supply chain allowing managers to dynamically respond to any situation that may arise so as to minimize its impact on production.

Inventory Management By measuring the level of inventory and analyzing turnover, green supply chain systems can improve the carbon performance of the organization as they reduce the need for ‘safety stocks’ and the risk of retailer ‘out-of-stocks’. Inventory items need to be consistently numbered to facilitate measurement and tracking. These benefits reduce the overhead required to store high inventory levels (Cottrill, 1997; Gledhill, 2002). Turner’s (1993) research claimed a 37% reduction in inventory levels as a result of GISCM implementation.

Efficiency GISCM systems can help measure the performance of the supply chain through the generation of supply chain metrics. This allows process quality issues to be tracked and rectified, isolates bottlenecks in the process and measures lead times so that they can be aligned with available capacity to maximize plant utilization. All of this ensures ‘quicker time-to-market’ for the firm’s products. (Gledhill, 2002; Bragg, 2002; Comptroller, 2002) Other efficiency benefits include no data rekeying through simplified automated order placement, order status inquiries, delivery shipment and invoicing (Gledhill, 2002; Bragg, 2002). GISCM implementations have resulted in a 50% overtime reduction for some organizations (Turner, 1993).

Implementation Consultants promise responsiveness and ‘Plug & Play’ integrations. However, documented examples of supply chain failures by organizations such as Siemens AG, Nike, OPP Quimica and Shell are evidence that the implementation of ISCM systems is not as easy as vendors claim. Claims of “rapid integration” and “seamless linking” seem to significantly underestimate the effort required to integrate ISCM with the rest of the enterprise (Oakton, 2003). When it comes

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to GISCM, we expect a significant degree of customization in order to integrate the software to the rest of the organization. Customization to enterprise software comes with great risk and significant cost for ongoing maintenance. OPP Quimica (a Brazillian Chemicals Company) required the use of 3rd-party integration software in order to assimilate i2 (ISCM) to the rest of the enterprise architecture. Shell’s implementation proved problematic with the need to tie 85 ERP sites to a single ISCM platform (Smith, 2002), which is similar challenges within GISCM are anticipated.

ISSUES AND BARRIERS IN GISCM ANALYSIS Similar to the hype attached to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications, there has been significant customer backlash concerning the inability of software vendors to deliver easy integration and promised functionality (Smith, 2002). Turner (1993) believes that “few companies claim to have fully implemented SCM and have sustained the benefits proposed GISCM would create”. In fact, Fontanella (2001) indicates that only 25% of GISCM users are utilizing the full suite of supply chain applications and that only 12% of users are receiving data from inbound suppliers and customers – far from an integrated supply chain. Many of these issues stem from a failure to undertake thorough analysis in the following key areas. •

Focus on transaction systems over strategic systems to manage supply chains.

Organizations need to take a strategic view of GISCM systems. Such strategic view would be beyond the transactions systems (e.g. inventory control, order processing etc.), which provide

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little visibility of the enterprise (Turner, 1993; Fontanella, 2001). •

Failure to pre-empt change to business processes.

In a majority of implementations, analysis has focused on the technical aspects of integrating ISCM systems with the remaining architecture. One area that has been neglected has been the effect on business processes. This is also true with GISCM implementations. Organizations expect either staff to just “accept change” or “customize” the software – both of these options are generally flawed. In order to reap the environmental advantages from GISCM systems, significant analysis needs to be conducted regarding process reengineering in order to ensure collaboration and continue to sustain benefits. This is similar to the cost saving advantages discussed by (Mol et.al, 1997; Turner, 1993; Fontanella, 2001). •

Failure to appreciate geographical, relational, environmental considerations between buyer and supplier.

The nature of ISCM (especially with multinational corporations), involves transacting across the world – “24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 360°”. Analysts fail to appreciate the geographical, relational and environmental “inhibitors” for ISCM implementations of this scope (Mol et.al, 1997). Green issues further complicate this situation as there are different legislations that are applicable to the ISCM across regional boundaries. Cross-borders logistics, culture, language and economic & regulatory climate are additional considerations which can affect the integration of business processes between regional offices & external organizations, creating communication issues throughout the green supply chain. One ill-performing participant in the supply chain will affect the performance of the entire supply chain (Strausl, 2001).

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•

Failure to accurately identify the costs and benefits of ISCM implementation.

Many implementations have been classed as failures because ISCM systems perceived inability to reap benefits and produce cost savings as expected. Similar situation can recur with GISCM. However, in many cases, it is the initial analysis of cost and benefits that have been flawed. Because of the nature and scope of ISCM implementations, it is difficult to accurately quantify attributable cost reductions from ISCM because they could be derived throughout the supply chain and be complicated to calculate. In the same light, determining benefits share similar traits with some having the additional complication of being intangible (e.g. benefits of a central database) and therefore, difficult to quantify (New, 1994). Therefore, extending ISCM to GISCM requires careful and upfront cost-benefit analysis that includes carbon calculations going beyond simple costs of implementing the supply chain. •

Insufficient Capability.

The implementation and support of ISCM systems can be rather complex and therefore Figure 2. GISCM systems analysis methodology

demands sophisticated resources and incremental implementations. Unfortunately, during the planning and analysis phases of implementation projects, organizations have failed to properly appreciate the level of complexity involved, resulting in significant under-resourcing. As a result, many organizations have suffered material cost overruns and delayed “go-live” times (Fontanella, 2001). Furthermore, there are very few experiences world-wide that deal with Green ISCMs. Hence the overall knowledge in this field is nascent.

PROPOSED METHODOLOGY FOR GISCM SYSTEMS ANALYSIS Due to the extent of unsuccessful ISCM system implementation and the potential problems they present in the organization’s effort to be a Green organization, it is imperative to construct an appropriate analysis and development methodology, which can be adopted as the roadmap for enterprises flourishing in GISCM systems development and operations. The proposed methodology demonstrates an overall picture for constructing a GISCM system from recognizing problems, analyzing requirements to the implementation and operation, and it embraces the following phases (Figure 2): 1. Identifying information management structure with respect to cost as well as carbon considerations. 2. Identifying connecting components of the organization that feed into the supply chain. 3. Ensuring appropriate business processes related to green SCM are modeled. 4. Establishing and developing interfaces between components that handle both SCM and Green data. 5. Developing new business processes that are efficient from carbon perspective. 6. Confirm strategic alignment of partners involved in the SCM.

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7. Implementing GISCM systems incrementally with due considerations to all parties. 8. Testing efficacy of implementation and measuring the results of GISCM. The following is a discussion and culmination of the aforementioned eight phases within the proposed iterative framework.

Identifying Information Management Structure Given the global nature of supply chain systems and its level of required integration, a common ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure must be able to extend around the globe, be able to support open and rapid communication, and to integrate easily with the architecture of not just the organization, but also with the architecture of customers and suppliers. This will be conducive to information sharing (Comptroller, 2002). The enterprise’s information systems architecture requires proper analysis to ensure that it satisfies the needs of GISCM systems and can support security boundaries, hugely distributed database operations and event-driven applications. The architecture needs to be durable, flexible and embedded with the appropriate middleware in order to integrate as easy as possible (Zieger, 2001). It also needs to be sufficiently robust to cater for firewalls and other security measures, 24/7 global access and have redundant systems and processes to handle events when GISCM systems need to be offline for maintenance, emergency and recovery purposes. In accordance with the criteria specified above, the Internet-based structure can be considered the most appropriate platform to satisfy these requirements. Nevertheless, participants in the supply chain have various capability and maturity levels in information management structure. Hence prior to the adoption of Internet technology for

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integration, the existing information management structure for each participant is required.

Identifying Connecting Components One of the most critical functions of supply chain management is to ensure the effective integration of information and material flows through the system. This includes understanding the value added to products and its related information flows (inputs and outputs) as it progresses through the supply chain (Michael-Donovan, 2002). This embraces analysis on the supply chain’s real costs, and cost & performance drivers (Seirlis, 2001). Turner (1993) identifies some of the key components, which need to be ‘functionally’ integrated. These components are also considered as the connecting components (or connecting business functions) between participants in the supply chain. These components include order management, customer service, invoicing, forecasting, distribution requirements planning (DRP), warehouse and inventory management, manufacturing planning, production control (MRPII) and integrated logistics.

Ensuring Appropriate Business Processes In order to enhance the supply chain processes, it is important to understand what happens currently. Generally supply chain processes may include the procurement, production, ordering, delivery and inventory paths, both within the company and external parties. Firstly, analysts should analyze the supply chain processes and be able to appreciate the company’s mix of products, end configurations, volumes, lifecycles, channels, customer segments and delivery outlets (Tyndall et.al, 2002). Each process should then be prioritized and broken down into its sub-processes, identifying each of its sources, outputs, transformations, timings, resources utilized and requirements.

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This would also be an opportune time to gather metrics concerning each of the processes in order to establish a baseline for identifying problems and to measure future process improvement. Additionally any opportunities to benefit from “quick-wins” should be taken advantage of at this point (Michael-Donovan, 2002).

Establishing and Developing Interfaces Once architectural issues have been resolved and data requirements have been determined, a structure needs to be established to enable common linkages between both data providers and data recipients of the GISCM (ie. customers and suppliers) and linkages within GISCM processes. This will require the need to ascertain whether there are any missing links and determine how the data required will be sourced or provided and in which format. The emerging technology for interface communications is XML (eXtensible Markup Language). XML uses HTML tags to enable the “definition, transmission, validation and interpretation of data”. However, effort for this task should not be underestimated (Zieger, 2001). Significant resources may be required in analyzing sources from ERP and antiquated EDI systems. It has been suggested that 3rd party interface tools (e.g. Informatica & Brio) can be used to ease the transition for these types of systems (Zieger, 2001).

Developing New Business Processes After conducting detail analysis of existing supply chain processes and identifying any inefficiencies and/or gaps in the process, a proposal should be created for the design of new processes. Not only should new processes cater for anticipated GISCM processing, but should be sufficiently visionary to accommodate for other strategic initiatives (CRM, Supplier Management, Knowledge Management).

The new supply chain should be modeled in a manner so that supply chain “blue prints” can be generated (Comptroller, 2002; Zieger, 2001). Tyndall et.al. (2002) suggest an iterative approach to process design whereby a process is broken down into stages and then defined, analyzed, executed, assessed and then re-defined. This cycle continues until the appropriate performance expectations have been achieved. This process can become quite complex and convoluted once organizations begin to incorporate back-end systems and the processes of other organizations. Based on metrics determined during the initial business process review, goals should be set for process improvement.

Confirm Strategic Alignment At the completion of most of the analytical work, It is important to revisit some of the groundwork that would have been completed during the planning phase activity in the traditional SDLC. It has been included this framework to highlight the importance of ensuring an alignment between business strategy and expectations with the outcomes of the GISCM implementation – supply chain strategy is interdependent on the business strategic direction. Analysts need to confirm that ‘value’ is being delivered through GISCM by conducting critical analysis on proposed benefits and costs to ensure that they are still realistic (Tyndall et.al, 2002). So as to prevent misalignment of resources and skill-sets, analysts also need to confirm that the business problem can still be solved with its current complement of staff.

Implementing GISCM Systems This phase involves determining what activities will need to be undertaken to facilitate implementation of GISCM system – creating an action plan. There are a number of factors should be considered in this final phase of the methodology such as

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setting up communication standards, developing business operation procedures, and establishing training programs. Furthermore, this phase should be expanded to incorporate activities that can assist in the detail analysis of implementation risk of the system. Conducting analysis in areas such as change management is one example. Inability to manage the implementation of change has been a key factor in project failure. Any enterprise systems place great strain on the organization to adapt to reap the benefits. Change Management involves more than simply conducting user-training programs, but involves a continuing consultative relationship with end users to secure buy-in.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE CHALLENGE This chapter proposed an analysis and development methodology for ISCM systems that is extended to Green ISCM. The discussion started with review and investigation of the current ISCM solutions and architectures, and identified a number of benefits, issues and problems regarding to the implementation of Green ISCM systems. Based on the examination of existing ISCMs status, the proposed methodology for GISCM systems analysis is constructed by an eight-phase development and implementation framework. The methodology tends to illustrate a systematic roadmap for enterprises in developing GISCM systems. The future challenge for enterprises in operating and maintaining GISCM systems stressed on the overall maturity of technological availability and the flexibility of business processes aligning with the GISCM architecture.

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REFERENCES Advanced Software Design Inc. (2002). ASD supply chain solution [online]. ASD Global, Internet: http://www.asdglobal.com/products/dod. html (accessed 7/21/03). Armstrong, E. (2002). The evolution of supply chain management software. Logistics Management, 41(9), 66–70. Bergert, S., & Kazimer-Shockley, K. (2001). The customer rules. Intelligent Enterprise, Jul 23, 4(11), p31. Bragg, S. (2002). 10 symptoms of poor supply chain performance [online]. ARC Advisory Group, Internet: http://www.idii.com/wp/arc_sc_perf.pdf (accessed 7/21/03). Cottrill K. (1997). Reforging the supply chain. Journal of Business Strategy, Nov-Dec 18(6), pp.35-39. Dalton, G., & Wilder, C. (1998). eBusiness -- Global Links -- Companies are turning to the Internet for tighter integration with suppliers overseas. Information Week, March 23, 674 pp.18-20. Fontanella, J. (2001). The overselling of supply chain suites [online]. AMR Research, Internet: http://www.amrresearch.com/Content/ view.asp?pmillid=662&docid=8027 (accessed 7/21/03). Gledhill, J. (2002). Create values with IT investment: how to generate a healthy ROI across the enterprise. Food Processing, Sept 63(9), pp.76-80. Handfield R. & Nichols Jr El. (1999). An introduction to supply chain management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Lan, Y., & Unhelkar, B. (2005). Global Enterprise Transitions. Hershey, PA: IDEAS Group Publication.

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Lan, Y., & Unhelkar, B. (2006). A Methodology for Developing an Integrated Supply Chain Management System. In Lan, Y., & Unhelkar, B. (Eds.), Global Integrated Supply Chain Systems. Hershey, PA: IGI-Global. Michael-Donovan, R. (2002). e-Supply chain management: Pre-requisites to success [online]. Performance Improvement, http://www.idii.com/ wp/donovan_sc_part1.pdf (access 21/7/03) Mol, M., & Koppius, O. (2002). Information technology and the internationalisation of the firm. Journal of Global Information Management. Oct-Dec, 10(4), pp.44-60. New, S. (1994). A framework for analysing supply chain improvement [online]. Manchester School of Management UMIST, Internet: http://www. unf.edu/~ybolumol/tra_4202_011/Artiicles/ sc_improvement.pdf (accessed 7/21/03) Oakton. (2003). Manufacturing and supply chain solutions [online]. Oakton Consulting, Internet: http://www.infact.com.au/clients/manufacturing. htm (accessed 7/21/03). OSD Comptroller iCenter (2002). Integrated supply chain management: Optimising logistics support [online]. Office of the Under Secretary of Defence, Internet: http://www.dod.mil/comptroller/icenter/learn/GISCMconcept.pdf (accessed 7/21/03). Peoplesoft (2002). PeopleSoft supply chain management. PeopleSoft Inc. Seirlis, A. (2001). Integrated Supply Chain Analysis [online]. TLB Consulting, Internet: http:// www.tlb.co.za/library/comentary/intergrated. html (accessed 7/21/03). Smith, T. (2002). Sharing the risk: How to avoid a supply-chain nightmare [online]. Internet Week. com, Internet: http://www.internetweek.com/ supplyChain/INW20020725S0007 (accessed 7/21/03).

Strausl, D. (2001). Four stages to building an effective supply chain network. EBN, Feb 26, p43. Turner (1993). Integrated Supply Chain Management: what’s wrong with this picture? Industrial Engineering, Dec, 25(12), pp.52-55. Tyndall, G., et al. (2002). Making it happen: The value producing supply chain [online]. Centre for Business Innovation – Ernst & Young, Internet: http://www.cbi.cgey.com/journal/issue3/features/ makin/makin.pdf (accessed 7/21/03). Unhelkar, B., & Dickens, Annukka, (2008). Lessons in Implementing “Green” Business Strategies with ICT. In Murugesan, S. (Ed.)Cutter IT Journal, Special issue on “Can IT Go Green?”, 21(2), February 2008, pp32-39 Zieger, A. (2001). Preparing for supply chain architectures [online]. PeerToPeerCentral.com, Internet: http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-supch.html?dwzone=web (accessed 7/21/03).

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Capable-To-Promise (CTP): The maximum output of a production process less what has been sold or promised Carbon Emissions: The production of Carbon dioxide (CO2) affected by human activity including the processes during the manufacturing of products Customer Relationship Management (CRM): The strategy for managing and nurturing an organization’s interactions with customers and sales prospects Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): The structured transmission of data between organizations by secured network telecommunications Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): A system is intended to manage all the information and functions of a business or organization from shared databases

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Inter-Organizational Activity: Processes or activities connecting business functions between organizations Intra-Organizational Activity: Processes or activities connection business functions within an organization Knowledge Management (KM): The process of systematically and actively managing and leveraging the stores of knowledge in an organization

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ENDNOTE 1



Vendors were quick to promote the benefits of ISCE, yet were not so forthcoming as to possible barriers and other issues to watch for.

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Chapter 39

Application of a Composite Process Framework for Managing Green ICT Applications Development Mohammed Maharmeh University of Western Sydney, Australia Zahra Saeed University of Technology Sydney, Australia

ABSTRACT This chapter presents the use of Composite Process Framework for Green ICT Applications Development. This framework for software development, as its name suggests, integrates different elements of software development processes such as waterfall, iterative-incremental and agile approaches to software development. The chapter explains and provides details on what comprises a Composite Processes Framework and how it can be applied to develop a Green ICT application.

INTRODUCTION This chapter presents a Composite Process Framework that comprises elements of each of the process life-cycles concurrently from software processes such as Waterfall, Iterative-Incremental or Agile, to enable project managers adopt the best processes for managing development of Green ICT systems. A composite Process Framework, as envisaged here, retains the flexible aspects of the agile approach and, at the same time, facilitates exchange of information about Green ICT

Strategies, and Green ICT Business Requirements between project stakeholders (such as senior business managers and ICT managers) during the project life-cycles. The aim of this chapter is to provide an insight on the background of implementing a business process and the potential use of a composite process framework for the development of Green ICT systems. The chapter is organized as follows. The next section provides a background about Green ICT Systems; it is followed by another section that highlights the definition of a composite process framework. Next it provides details of using the

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch039

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Application of a Composite Process Framework for Managing Green ICT Applications Development

composite process framework for Green ICT solution and finally the conclusion and future direction.

COMPOSITE PROCESS FRAMEWORK Overview The Composite Process Framework is a standard procedure for adopting a combination of software development approaches. The composite process framework model illustrate how to adopt elements of various software development processes in a single project within an organization, in such a way that help resolve some of the issues and problems associated with the implementation of these processes in developing solutions such as Green ICT system.

Composite Process Framework Model

layers making the three System Development Life Cycles that are categorized as Waterfall (Royce, 1970), Iterative-incremental, and rapid (Martin, 1991) life cycles. The rapid life cycles can be said to encompass an “Agile” approach. While the composite process framework consists from three layers, it does not require having all the three layers in place to operate. The composite process framework could use a composition of two or more processes that are “Waterfall and iterative approach” or “Waterfall, iterative and agile approach” (Maharmeh & Unhelkar, 2009b). The process framework utilizes the highceremony aspects of the Waterfall approach at the top layer for taking care of planning and project management tasks. In the next layer, it uses the Iterative and incremental approach aspects for taking care of implementation and testing of each increment. Finally, it utilises the extreme flexibility, fast delivery, high quality and collaboration aspects of agility within each iteration of the project at the third layer of the model.

The composite process framework model as shown in Figure 1, consists from three distinct Figure 1. Composite Process Framework Model (Maharmeh & Unhelkar, 2008, 2009a)

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Advantages of the Composite Framework The incorporation of multiple types of processes across the three layers of the Composite Model, helps amalgamate the advantages of each of the participating processes. This benefits the software development process within organizations resulting in, better planning, less risk, and more user participation during the project development life cycle.

Suitability of Composite Process for Green ICT Systems The size and complexity of Green ICT systems requires the use of software development process that is flexible and support software development life cycle. The composite process framework and its model as explained before shows that, it is suitable for implementing medium to large size systems such as Green ICT solutions. The composite process supports iterative-incremental development and incorporates agile aspects that increase user participations during the project life cycle. These aspects of the composite process, in addition to, providing better control over the project management, makes it very suitable for managing the development of a Green ICT system.

GREEN ICT SYSTEMS OVERVIEW Information and communication technology (ICT) is used broadly to support businesses building Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies (Unhelkar and Trivedi, 2009). ICT is also used to build systems that are to be used by various types of industries, including both product and service industries. These systems are called Green ICT solutions (GICT). Development of GICT from scratch includes selection of the best technologies and applying best practices to adopt green

ICT solutions. These practices include software development processes and project management techniques. Green ICT systems are consists from one of the following system components: Green ICT System Stakeholders: These are the people responsible within an organization for its Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies (Unhelkar and Trivedi, 2009). Thus, in a hospital management industry, for example, there will be an environmental manager who will be responsible for the implementation of the strategies for reducing greenhouse gases. There will be also other users responsible for entering the environmental data, the government representatives who are responsible for entering the standards or acceptable benchmarks. The senior management of the organization is the ones who are interested in viewing the green performance of their organization. Public users are also interested in finding out the performance of an organization in relation to its green compliance and strategies. Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS): As described by U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 2009), the CEMS is a combination of equipment and software systems necessary for the determination of a gas concentration or emission rate using pollutant analyzer measurements and conversion equation, graph, or computer programs to produce results in units of the applicable emission limitation or standard. These systems implements state-of-the-art solutions for gas analysis, and CEMS that is used to monitor and manage gas emissions. Predictive Emission Monitoring Systems (PEMS): As described by U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 2009). PEMS is a software-based systems the determination of a gas concentration or emission rate using a process or control device operating parameter measurements and conversion equation, a graph, or computer programs to produce results in units of the applicable emission limitation or standard. The largest users of these CEMS and PEMS systems are the electric power industry. Since

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CEMS require appropriate software, hardware and integration and maintenance services, they are very costly and expensive to own. However, PEMS can be used as alternatives to CEMS to lower the cost involved with owning green ICT applications. This is due to that PEMS are only software based but CEMS are hardware and software based (Processing talk editorial team, 2009). With the recent rise in awareness of green issues, and environmental concerns, the interest in green ICT applications and Carbon management software has increased considerably. According to a report by Verdantix (2009) organizations are getting more involved with green ICT applications. This is so, because of the realization of the risks posed to their business. These risks include high cost of power, environmental regulations, climate change laws, customers increasing interest in green organizations subsequently developing market competition in the field of sustainability.

GREEN ICT SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION Development of green ICT applications can contribute to lowering environmental impacts of ICT in many ways. Some examples are listed below: •

•

•

•

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Document management software that enables end users to reduce paper use (Manchester, 2007). Web-hosted or online applications that avoid manufacturing, packaging, and shipping of CDs resulting in lower carbon emissions and wasting of packaging materials (Reeve, 2008). Applications that make use of parallel or multiprocessor architectures and result in efficient coding strategies and use of hardware resources (Manchester, 2007). User friendly applications that enable end users to conduct their work faster resulting in saving energy consumption.

•

Online e-commerce sites that eliminate shopping trips and also reduce in-person visits allowing businesses to have smaller real estate space resulting in reduction of energy consumption (Aronson, 2008).

GREEN ICT STRATEGIES Developing green ICT applications should consider and comply with governmental and organizational green ICT strategies. These strategies are developed to be used as guidelines for developing new ICT solutions to reduce the negative environmental impacts of software. Following examples illustrate how these strategies might impact new system design, hardware upgrade or enhancement of existing systems: •

•

•

Correct and precise requirements will increase the life of the project and decrease the maintenance phase, resulting in less power consumption for developing new solutions. Elimination of unused and duplicated source code to reduce the storage requirements of new application (Raza, 2009). Considering environmental costs during the cost analysis. For example, purchasing extra servers might be more cost effective compared to the cost of a few more months of development. However, it is very important to consider the environmental impacts of the electricity and cooling infrastructure that a server requires (Shojaee, 2007).

GREEN ICT SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS Implementation and management of Green ICT Systems is complex and requires careful consideration during the process of gathering business requirements, system implementation and testing.

Application of a Composite Process Framework for Managing Green ICT Applications Development

Business requirements and proposed solutions should cover Green ICT requirements and comply with organisation and governmental Green ICT strategies. The development of large complex Green ICT systems such as CEMS and PEMS will involve technical and project management issues. These issues should be handled right from the beginning to ensure the success of the project. Such issues will have impact on the business solution process as well as Green ICT systems implementation processes.

APPLICATION OF COMPOSITE PROCESS FRAMEWORK FOR GREEN ICT SYSTMES DEVELOPMENT Implementation of Green ICT solutions that meet organisations ICT strategies and comply with governmental standards requires a use of flexible software development process that supports continuous and rapid changes of business needs. The process should support different phases of Green ICT project life-cycle. The composite framework will be tailored to support the implementation of Green ICT solution. The development of Green ICT solutions will be performed using an Iterative, Incremental & Parallel (IIP) development life cycle. Iteratively, meaning that the development tasks might be repeated in a number of iterations during the actual development, incrementally, meaning that small pieces of the solution deliverables will be created and delivered at different times and integrated as they are completed, in parallel, meaning that project team will work concurrently on several deliverables of the system. This IIP development life-cycle that is supported by the Composite Process Framework will help the project team return to earlier parts of the lifecycle in order to improve what has been created based on the knowledge gained in earlier phases.

Green ICT solutions development as any other standard ICT solutions will go through the following development phases: •

•

•

•

•

•

•

Project initiation: This is a high level phase, where the initiative is initiated and approved to become a project, the project steering committee is established and a project manager is nominated. Project planning: In this phase the estimation of time and cost is carried to produce a project budget and project plan. Requirements Analysis: In this phase analysis and engineering of gathered requirements is conducted to produce a detailed business requirements document and business model. Implementation Phase: In this phase, the design of the over whole solution is constructed. Development team is involved to develop the product components and other related deliverables. Testing: This phase includes the creation of testing plans, test designs and test cases as well as assigning resources needed to carry out these tasks and testing architecture that describes the testing iterations and types of testing. Deployment: This phase includes the creation of deployment plan, and deployment of the system components into target environment. Post implementation (closure): This phase include all activities related to assessing and solving any post implementation issues.

Based on the tasks performed in every phase of the project life-cycle, we can see that Waterfall approach is best for project initiation, project planning and post implementation phases as it gives the project manager full control over the project life-cycle. The Iterative approach is the best during the analysis, design, and coding phases since it

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gives the project team more flexibility to address evolving system requirements and to iterate within these phases to ensure a comprehensive analysis and design has been done. The use of agile approach is better during the development of project iterations since it helps produce incremental small software releases within a short iterative development cycles. Following sections shows how an instance of the Composite Process Framework as illustrated in Figure 4, could be tailored during the project phases.

Project Initiation / Planning Phases The composite framework supports planning of project increments. The project manager plans each increment separately. There is no need to prepare a plan for the whole project. Project plan could be developed to target development and implementation of each increment based on the specified user requirements for each iteration.

Requirement Analysis Phase Requirement analysis is the process of capturing, analyzing and validating the system requirements. Careful consideration should be taken in the requirements analysis phase. Precise and clear business requirements are the foundation of any software implementation. Green ICT system as other software systems require clear and precise requirements to comply with greenness requirements such as increasing the life of the application so it stays in use for a long time, and reducing the maintenance effort, resulting in less energy and power consumption In this phase of implementing green ICT applications, care must be taken in aligning IT solutions with green policies and practices. All the requirements must support low energy consumption and green regulations. Non-functional requirements need to be aligned with environmental concerns and green policies (Beal, 2009).

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Use of agile principles and practices in the development of green ICT systems enable and provide the business with the necessary visibility of the development. It also delivers the quality and functionality needed for green ICT applications in a reduced time. Agile methods are code and people oriented in the sense that they continuously deal with requirements and their implementation (Fowler & Highsmith, 2001). Furthermore, there is also a continuous emphasis on participatory development, on-going testing, regular communication and feedback to user and visibility in development. These characteristics of agile methods help in capturing requirements within the development itself; as a result, the requirements are immediately translated in a precise and completed manner into system modules or software components. Agile methods provide better collaboration between the software development team and business (Hugos, 2008). Agile allows the business users to be involved in the project as team members and approve the functionality as the project is being implemented. This minimises the impact of business requirements change and enables the software development team to get feedback on the implementation of the project and deliver prioritized functionality faster and more frequently. Figure 2 illustrates the use of agile approach during the requirements analysis process. Agile approach that is integrated into the composite framework has the following characteristics: • • • • • •

Developing a simple system quickly and creating visible output at regular intervals Continuous development Prototyping Rapid and continuous user feedback Continuous integration of the components as they are developed, and Build projects around motivated individuals

Application of a Composite Process Framework for Managing Green ICT Applications Development

Figure 2. High-level steps in applying Agile approach in green ICT business Analysis Process

These concepts could be applied in practice during the business analysis process, which include capturing requirements and developing solution. Use cases or user stories also appear to be ideal modelling elements that can be immediately implemented. However, in agile approach, these use cases will not be fully and formally developed before the solution design can commence. In the approach outlined here, use cases can be modelled using use case and sequence diagrams. Therefore, these diagrams or developed user stories can themselves be directly implemented in code following agile approach within the composite framework life cycle. In green ICT Project, during the requirements analysis phase, firstly the requirements are identified by the business analyst, then the identified requirements are prioritized by the business analyst and project manager. Business analyst and the project manager are responsible for prioritizing and planning the iteration scope. Depending on the priority of these requirements they are assigned to different iterations to be developed in the implementation phase. Figure 3 is an activity diagram, which demonstrates how agile concepts

can be used to capture requirements in a green ICT system.

Implementation Phase In the implementation phase, the analyzed requirements for the green ICT application are implemented and tested for each iteration of the project. In the implementation phase agile approach is the best practice as it supports delivery of incremental small software components. Based on one of the main agile principles, which is valuing working software, the goal is to produce an increment of working functionality of the green ICT application (Beck, 2000). The implementation phase begins with writing a testing strategy, and acceptance test plans by test engineers. The developers are also working in parallel on coding and developing the project increments. Agility is utilized in the composite framework during the project phases to facilitate rapid changes on system requirements and to support iterations between project increments.

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Figure 3. Activity graph demonstrating the process of capturing and prioritizing requirements in a GICT system

Testing Phase In the testing phase a series of tasks is performed to determine and ensure the quality of the implemented components from the previous phases. The agile approach and iterative process is used

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during the different test cycles to support multiple testing of project increments.

Deployment Phase The composite framework supports deployment of project in increments. There is no need to wait

Application of a Composite Process Framework for Managing Green ICT Applications Development

Figure 4. Application of an Instance of Composite Process Framework for Green ICT Project

till the whole project is delivered. Deployment plans could be developed to target deployment of each increment separately.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTION When developing a Green ICT application, Waterfall approach is best to use during the project initiation, planning and post implementation phases as it gives the project manager full control

over the project life-cycle. The Iterative approach is better to use during the analysis, design, and coding phases since it gives the project team more flexibility to address evolving system requirements and to iterate within these phases to ensure a comprehensive analysis and design has been done. The use of agile approach is better during the deployment and testing phases since it helps produce incremental small software releases within a short iterative development cycles.

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REFERENCES Aronson, J. S. (2008). Making IT a Positive Force in Environmental Change. IT Professional, 10(1), 43–45. doi:10.1109/MITP.2008.13 Beal, A. (2009) WANTED: Green Business Analysts, Retrieved October 5, 2009, from http:// www.modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Print.aspx?tabid =115&tabmoduleid=3372&articleId=1091&mo duleId=572&PortalID=0 Beck, K. (2000). Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change. Massachusett. Reading: Addison-Wesley. EPA, (2009). U.S Environmental Protection Agency: Technology Transfer Network Emission Measurement Center: Continuous Emission Monitoring – information, Guidance, etc. Retrieved October 5, 2009. Fowler, M., & Highsmith, J. (2001). The Agile Manifesto, Tech Web, Retrieved August 3, 2009, from http://www.ddj.com/architect/184414755 Hugos, M. H. (2008) How Agile Analysts Get Things Done. Computerworld, July 14, 42(28), p. 25. Maharmeh, M., & Unhelkar, B. (2008) Investigation into the Creation and Application of a Composite Application Software Development Process Framework, 2008 IEEE 5th ITNG Conference, Las Vegas. Maharmeh, M., & Unhelkar, B. (2009a) Applying a Composite Process Framework in Real Life Software Development Projects, 2009 IEEE 6th ITNG Conference, Las Vegas. Maharmeh, M., & Unhelkar, B. (2009b). Application of a Composite Process Framework for Mobile Application Development. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives (2nd ed.). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

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Manchester, Ph. (2007) Is ‘green’ software possible? It isn’t easy being green in an abstract world. Retrieved July 15, 2009, from http:// www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/21/green_software_possibility/ Martin, J. (1991). Rapid Application Development. Macmillan Coll. Nyfjord, J., & Kajko-Mattsson, M. (2008) Software Engineering, 2008. ASWEC 2008. 19th Australian Conference on 26-28 March 2008, pp. 86 – 96. Processingtalk, (2009) Regulation will drive future CEMS market. An ARC Advisory Group product story. Retrieved October 5, 2009, from http:// www.processingtalk.com/news/ajw/ajw180.html Raza, S. (2009) Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) software solutions for green IT, IBM. Retrieved July 20, 2009, from http:// www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1242252589_599. html?psrc=RRT Reeve, J. (2008) How to Build a Green Business. Retrieved July 20, 2009, from http://www.digitalweb.com/articles/how_to_build_a_green_business/ Royce, W. W. (1970). Managing the Development of Large-Scale Software: Concepts and Techniques. Proceedings, Wescon. Shojaee, H. (2007) Rules for being a Green Software Engineer. Retrieved July 15, 2009, from http://shipsoftwareontime.com/2007/12/24/rulesfor-being-a-green-software-engineer/ Unhelkar, B., & Trivedi, B. (2009). Role of mobile technologies in an Environmentally Responsible Business Strategy. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research in Mobile Business (2nd ed.). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

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Verdantix, (2009) Green Quadrant: Carbon Management Software (Global), pp. 31, Retrieved October 9, 2009, from http://www.verdantix. com/index.cfm/papers/Products.Details/product_id/51/green-quadrant-carbon-managementsoftware-forthcoming-/-

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Composite Process Framework: Composition of multiple process models. Iterative process: Is a process of repeating a project development operations.

Incremental development: A development of various parts of the project at different times and deliver the system in different increments. SDLC: System/Software Development lifeCycle. UML: Unified Modeling Language. IIP: Iterative, Incremental & Parallel. ICT: Information Communication and Technology. PEMS: Predictive Emission Monitoring Systems. CEMS: Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems.

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Chapter 40

Green ICT and Architectural Frameworks Amit Goel RMIT University, Australia Amit Tiwary Utility Industry, Australia Heinz Schmidt RMIT University, Australia

ABSTRACT Green ICT Practices fall in two different extremes of either only recommendations to reduce the resource usage such as electricity, or high level strategic management techniques such as Green Balanced Scorecard. The one extreme is very micro level operational approach and the other extreme is just paper strategies without a roadmap for total sustainability. This chapter proposes the enterprise architecture framework and mathematical model providing dynamic model for total sustainability. A brief description of currently popular Green ICT Metrics in practice is presented, together with a discussion of architectural frameworks providing three different architecture layers and a roadmap to achieve desirable “total sustainability indicator (TSI™) - a measurement framework based on mathematical models and game theory.

INTRODUCTION This chapter proposes an enterprise architecture framework that is dynamic and aimed at providing total sustainability for the organization. An ICT architectural framework providing the physical, logical and strategic architecture layers and a roadmap to achieve desirable “Total Sustainability Indicator (TSI™)” is presented. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch040

The TSI is a measurement framework based on mathematical models and games theory. The TSI has been developed by the authors over several years, basing the architectural framework on game theory and has the following specific advantages when it comes to Green ICT: •

Green ICT is result of cooperative and collaborative efforts among competing business units. They could be competing on finances, resources or performance results,

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Green ICT and Architectural Frameworks

•

•

but game theory tells them that there exists a saddle points for co-operation and collaboration to achieve global optima for the enterprise as a whole. Game theory takes into consideration the uncertainties and risks through probabilistic distribution of various alternative options. Game theory puts the evaluation of alternative choices from the perspective of players instead of perspective of a central force such as board or chair. This gives a more realistic evaluation as business units acting as players choose not only the best for themselves but also for the organisation as an holistic optimum solution.

While currently “Green ICT” appears to be a combination of facts and hype, it is necessary to consider it nonetheless in the context of business. However, there is debate raging at political level, particularly within Australia, as to the costs – and who would bear them – in terms of carbon emissions. It is hoped that once the government finalizes the carbon emission policies and procedures, that there will be opportunities for businesses to firmly shape and implement their Green strategies. When it comes to Green ICT, businesses will need an architectural framework that will provide a sustainability roadmap to the organizations embarking on Green ICT journey. This architectural framework can be an extension of an existing framework, or can be created anew. This chapter discusses the extension and use of a Green ICT architectural framework for an environmentally conscious business.

CURRENT SITUATION Modern building architectural practices are currently used to architect buildings with energy efficiency techniques. Green Architecture, or Green Design, is an approach to building that minimizes

harmful effects on human health and the environment. The “Green” architect or designer attempts to safeguard air, water, and earth by choosing eco-friendly building materials and construction practices (About.com, 2009). In case of ICT architecture, the approaches to Green ICT can be categorized either by the recommendations to reduce the resource usage based on physical layer of servers and client devices (optimization of the infrastructures or databases) especially the power usage, or on the other scale high level strategic management techniques such as Green Balanced Scorecard to attain Green ICT (Goel, Tiwary, & Schmidt, 2010). These two extremes are either very operational that is only looking at the current costs of the ICT or paper strategies without roadmaps for total sustainability. ICT architecture can play multi-facet roles of assisting in building systems that makes organization become greener and thus reduce carbon foot prints. ICT architecture also follows the initiatives from building architectures to provide eco-friendly systems that will reduce the resource usages as following: • • • •

An optimised architecture of the system that reduces the power consumptions. Reduces the paper copy requirements. Reduce the resources requirements (optimised processes). Reduce the customer interaction time that will result in fewer resources.

ORGANISATIONAL PROCESS LANDSCAPE Organizations will structure themselves in various structures to provide a clear demarcation to the roles and responsibilities defined in the organizations. These structures are used for grouping relationships arrangement in formal roles and responsibilities. In a typical organization divided in functional level, figure 1 shows an organization

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Figure 1. Organizational process landscape

process landscape based on the key organizational activities:

Understanding Market and Customer An organization needs to understand the market and customers to provide products based on customer needs or wants. The key activities done will

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include determination of customer need and want. These processes will require matured context centers (a combination of multi-channels that varies based on organizational resources. The channels normally included are voice via IVR, call centers, to manage customer contacts and other channels such as self services using contact centers via phone, web technology and contact emails, SMS,

Green ICT and Architectural Frameworks

catalogues distributed to prospective customer normally termed as junk mails). These activities are always requiring ICT resources or paper to generate marketing materials. This is always seen as driving activities for rest of the organizations and will always have short term focus based on market dynamics (threats from the competitors, eagerness to have first-mover advantages).

Developing Vision and Strategy Many organizations often have each department with their own vision and strategy based on departmental needs. This silo approach sometime defines competing strategy and cannibalizes other departmental vision and strategies.

Design Products and Services Every organization existence is based on their aim to sell some product and services. These products and services are designed based on organizational vision and strategy and their understanding of the market and customers. This is where most of the organizational goal and departmental goals could conflict with the total sustainability of the organizations. If these organizations are structured based on the products and services (most common organizational structure), high level of duplication is seen in the marketing strategies and will have conflicting products. The organizations need to align these departments for the total sustainability proposed via this paper.

Market and Sell Product and Services Similar to product and services design, sales and marking functions will also be defined on the organizational silos. It is not uncommon for an organization to have conflicting marketing engagements where one area of the organization promotes Green products and may adopt some Green policies to be undone by other department

by overusing the resources. For an example, marketing could implement programs to reduce their carbon foot prints via introducing a new channel of self serve, but the total sustainability of these activities must be determined by impact on other areas of the organization (ICT department). These scenarios are discussed in detail in next section.

Maintain and Support Product and Services In any organization, main resources are devoted to maintain and support the products and services. The main activities incident management will require contact centers, service centers, invoicing and billing processes. This will also use paper resources for invoicing and billing and finally managing the contracts with the customers during the life of the product and services will need similar contact centre and paper resources.

Retire Products and Services This function is not always well done by organizations; retirement of the products needs resources to safely dispose these products, but organizations pay least importance to these activities. The examples are tips being overflowing with the previous models or PC, laptops, printers and printer cartages for the computing industry. The retirement of the products requires a well thought strategy and should be aligned with the product designs and development and marketing to maximize the resource usage.

Management Support Processes This function will require optimizing resources used by the organization during the total lifecycle of the products and services. The financial management, skills management, HR and vendor management activities all contribute to either optimization of resources or wastage due to the

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duplication or varying and un-coordinated demand on resources.

COMPLEXITIES OF CURRENT APPLICATION ENVIRONMENTS According to our learning, a sustainable approach for the Green ICT needs to address following practices and roadblocks:

Varying Architecture Organizations often grown by merger and acquisitions. These integrations often see the coexistence of varying architectures and resources used for extended periods before systems are consolidated. This use of parallel systems often generates excessive demand on the ICT resources to maintain current situation and making it difficult to consolidate and optimize solutions, systems and operations. For example, without application capabilities consolidation, any virtualization of server could only provide minimal improvement in resource usage.

Move to Make One Tool/ Architecture Silver Bullet In a push to consolidate the operations, organizations may embark on major projects that seem like the silver bullet to all organizational issues, but if the process optimization is not implemented, demand on resources will increase due to a larger servers, infrastructure and complexity of processes due to “one size fits all”.

Eagerness to Solve the Problem before Understanding the Root Cause ICT departments of most of the companies are always eager to resolve any issue or problem by technological solution and in turn will require

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more resources due to complexity of the solution or extra infrastructure requirements.

Organizational Structure As discussed in previous section, organizational structure will always generate duplication in the infrastructure and resource usage. In case of organization being in silos of product and services, effort of one department of being more Green by adopting Green techniques could be undone by other department in the same value chain as discussed in following sections.

GREEN ICT METRICS The saying goes: “If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it”. Hence the importance of Metrics cannot be underestimated, especially in context of business and sustainability, where it is important to know how effective the policies and their implementation in achieving Green ICT are. Various metrics have been proposed for measuring the Green ICT. Most of these metrics focus on different resource usage or very high level business goals and drivers (Lamb, 2009; Schulz, 2009). Some of these metrics are listed below: EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool): According to epeat.net website: “EPEAT is a system that helps purchasers evaluate, compare and select electronic products based on their environmental attributes. The system currently covers desktop and laptop computers, thin clients, workstations and computer monitors.”(EPEAT Inc., 2009-10) The EPEAT has 23 baseline and 28 optional criteria. Products are rated Gold, Silver or Bronze depending on the percentage of 28 optional criteria they meet above the baseline criteria. However the manufacturers provide the numbers for meeting the criteria and there is no formal certification process. Random testing and spot checks are

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carried out to ensure that manufacturers declare the value honestly. SPEC (Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation) is a nonprofit organization that maintains and recommends benchmarks for comparing high-performance computing machines. SPEC power_ssj2008 is the industry benchmark which evaluates power and performance characteristics of multi-node computers and servers (SPEC, 2009-10). Initial benchmark compares the Java workload performance on a high-performance machine with the power consumed by system. Additional workloads are planned for future releases. The benchmark reports power to performance ratio which is:

å ssj å power ops

Green Grid is a consortium of ICT Professionals seeking to rise the energy efficiency of data centers. They have devised energy-efficiency metrics for data centers listed below (Green Grid, 2009-10): •

PUE (Power Use Effectiveness) is defined as:

PUE =

•

Total Facility Power ICT Equipment Power

DCiE (Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency) is basically reciprocal of PUE.

DCiE =

 ICT Equipment Power  1 ×100% =  PUE  Total Facility Power 

where: •

Total Facility power is defined as the power measured at the utility meter.

•

ICT Equipment power is defined as power consumed by equipment that manages, processes, stores or routes data within the data center.

A PUE value of 1.0 represents 100% efficiency which effectively means all power directed to data center is being used by computing equipment. These metrics enable to quickly estimate the energy efficiency of data centers. The metrics thus collected could be easily compared against other data centers. Further, investigation of these metrics allows determining if any energy-efficiency improvements need to be made.

TOTAL SUSTAINABILITY ARCHITECTURE FRAMEWORK The Green ICT architecture framework introduces a Total Sustainability Indicator (TSI) of the activities. This indicator is generated based on game theory and the input will be defined by organization based on their goal of being Green. For example if the organization defines that they would like to reduce their current paper use by 10% should be converted in reduction of the carbon foot print by 10% and then this will be input to all the departmental activities TSI calculation. For example if we consider two scenarios as following:

Scenario 1: Web Marketing Channel Addition Marketing department is planning to introduce another channel (self service) that will reduce the paper based marketing currently being pursued. By introducing this channel, marketing department will save around x amount of paper and the sustainability indicator will be x1. The introduction of the web channel will now demand the ICT systems to be available 24X7 where as previously they were only available business hours 8 am – 7 pm

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on weekdays. The new channel will increase the ICT electricity usage and also will require extra infrastructure such as high speed disks and DR systems to cater for high availability. This will change the sustainability indicator of ICT to X2. Although we seem to assume that let us go for the solution which gives us better Sustainability indicator. Hence continue with current channel if X1 > X2 and proceed otherwise. This kind of decision making looks at optimizing the local gains only to sustainability indicator. Whereas if calculated over a sequence of future states with global consideration, this might lead to a different answer then simple calculation above. Thus it is necessary to look at this situation as game with two different alternative choices for playing available at that particular moment. Using an appropriate tool with combination of game theory and utility theory might tell us which option is more sustainable in long term.

Scenario 2: ICT Infrastructure Consolidation An ICT department is optimizing ICT infrastructure and consolidating centers, where previously

the ICT infrastructure was distributed and based on user systems requirements. By consolidation, ICT will achieve reduction in power, but may increase the response time for various users. Here again we have two alternative game play choices. First choice to proceed with consolidation and second choice is proceed with distributed infrastructure. By analyzing the future states with multiple variables, the game theory and utility theory not only tell us whether to consolidate or not, but also at what point it would be more optimum to consolidate in terms of sustainability indicator and other variables. Our architectural framework (Figure 2) introduced has following components: •

•

•

Information View: provides the organisation information that will be impacted by the activity being modelled. Application View: identifies the applications that will participate to complete the business activities. Organisational View: identifies the organisational roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in the architecture.

Figure 2. ICT architecture framework with sustainability view

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•

•

Business Process View: identifies the business processes and flow within these processes. Sustainability View: identifies the risks and the total sustainability indicator based on the organisational constraints and input attributes and selected game theories.

The organizational processes will have one or many activities that are performed due the execution of these processes. From Figure 2, each activity has following attributes: • • •

• • •

A trigger to initiate the activity. This trigger will vary depending upon the activities. Risks associated with the activities (list of exceptions). Each activity will have some pre-requisites including previous activities completed and certain documents are generated. The activities will use one or many ICT systems to automate some of the tasks. Various roles and responsibilities will be defined to perform this activity. The outcome of the activity will be a trigger to start another activity or output documents.

GAME THEORY IN ICT ARCHITECTURE DESIGN Game theory is the study of decision making and mathematical modeling in cooperative and collaborative situations among multiple participants called players. Game Theory became popular after Neumann and Morgenstern published their seminal work (Von Neumann & Morgenstern, 1947) and attempts to model situations where actions of players affect the outcome for one or more of the players. These situations are described as Strategic and the actions thus chosen by players are called Strategy.

Game theory has been applied in different contexts and situations such as business (Brams, 1990; Chatterjee & Samuelson, 2001), economics (Bryant, 1980; Friedman, 1986; Rubinstein, 1990), politics (Brams, 1975, 1985; Colomer, 1995; Ordeshook & Mathematical Social Science Board., 1978), biology (Colman, 1995; Dugatkin & Reeve, 1998), law (Baird, Gertner, & Picker, 1994), national security (Brams & Kilgour, 1988), sustainability and environment (Hanley & Folmer, 1998), psychology (Buchler & Nutini, 1969; Enquist, 1984) and social phenomena (Abdou & Keiding, 1991; Binmore, 1994). A business enterprise could be considered as an n-player simultaneous infinite non-zero-sum game. •

•

• •

n-player: Each department, business unit or group is considered as a player in the game. Simultaneous: Each BU makes its moves without waiting for other players as against turn-based game where one player makes his move and then waits for other to make a move. Infinte: The business enterprise game is an infinite game, i.e. it continues endlessly. Non-zero-sum: The payoffs by each move are non-zero-sum, i.e. the gains or losses do not cancel out each other. An activity might have different levels of gains or losses for each BU which might not add up to Zero.

The cases mentioned above, i.e. Web Marketing Channel Addition and ICT Infrastructure Consolidation; are some of the examples of above mentioned game. The Business Enterprise consists of n number of player (i.e. Business Units or Departments or Groups). Each player Pi has number of alternative actions A j available to choose from, at each state q∈Q. Each action affects the Total Sustainability Indicator (TSI) in a +ve or –ve way. The effect is

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calculated by a utility function U(a,q) where q is the current state and a is the action. Total Sustainability Indicator at each state is sum of Utility Values of actions taken by each player.

•

TSI = ∑ U (a, q ) Pi

Where • • •

• •

P is a set of players A is a set of actions available to each player Q is a set of states of the game. Game moves from one state to another when players take an action. a ∈ A is an action considered for calculating the utility value q ∈ Q is current state where utility value is being calculated

The TSI may change when players choose different actions from set A. Each player might have a motivation to maximize the utility value for him, i.e. to play an action that benefits his personal goals. To achieve global optimal value for Total Sustainability Indicator however, the players should collaboratively choose the actions. Further, the TSI itself should be sustainable not only at the current state, but also at certain number of future state. Hence this flavor of futuristic planning makes it useful for strategic business planning. The game tree thus formed with TSI would have various branches originating from one state depending on which actions are chosen by players. The nodes would also have a +ve or –ve indicator on each branch to represent the impact on TSI by choosing that strategy profile.

Application to Sample Scenario Let us say utility function for the example scenario calculates the TSI value at each state of business by using following attributes:

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•

•

•

TEU -Total energy usage per activity (could also include the use of metrics from Green Grid, for example if the data centre supporting the activities will use 100 watts and service 100 customer then power use = total power usage / number of times this activity is done). TPU -Total paper usage by the activity (similarly if 1000 pages are used to service 100 customer then the total paper usage is equal to 10 pages). TFT -Total FTE hours required to support this activity (3 people are employed and they total time spent for this activity is say 1000 hours and 100 customers are served). TBV – Total Benefit Value – Expected tangible and Intangible benefits to the business because of choosing this option.

TSI can be calculated by addition of these values: TSI = (TEU + TPU + TFT) - TBV The utility function accounts for changes in these attributes and calculates a change in the TSI. U(a,q) = ΔTSI Considering Scenario 1, the Game could be formed as following: •

For marketing department: ◦⊦ Alternate 1: Introduce Self Service Channel: This option results in reduced TPU, TFT and TEU for marketing department. Introducing this channel could result in benefits for business in terms of faster services and happy customers. Let us assume it results in ΔTSI of +500. ◦⊦ Alternate 2: Continue paper-based Channel: This option results in increased TFT and TPU but probably

Green ICT and Architectural Frameworks

•

also a little increase in TEU due to increased power usage by increased office space requirements for record keeping and employees. Let us assume it results in ΔTSI of -100. For ICT department: ◦⊦ Response 1: Support Self-Service Channel: Let us say supporting a self-service channel increases the TFT and TEU for ICT, hence ΔTSI of -300. Considering the benefits to business this ΔTSI value comes to -200. ◦⊦ Response 2: Oppose Self Service Channel: Let us say opposing a self service channel results in lesser TFT and lesser TEU for ICT and hence ΔTSI of +100.

Now let us assume if both the departments are choosing options which support each other, then they get additional 200 points, whereas if they oppose each other they get -200 points. Let us see the game in normal form based on this information.

Nash Equilibrium Definition: A set of strategies is said to be in Nash Equilibrium if every player is playing his best strategy against the other players best strategies. The Nash Equilibrium Point (NEP) in context of an ICT Architecture Framework based on TSI can be calculated by using methods such as backward induction (Osborne & Rubinstein, 1999). NEP gives a solution to the game where changing the strategy will not benefit any player. In table 1 the Nash Equilibrium shows that strategy (A1, R1) is the best choice for the organization since it results in a net ΔTSI of 500-200+200 = 500 which is higher than any other options. That is the value of coalition of both the departments. ICT Department could gain more by adopting strategy R2, but this reduces the ΔTSI for overall organization. Hence, other strategic alternatives

Table 1. Normal form of the Self Service Channel Game €€€€€€€€€€R1

€€€€€€€€€€R2

€€€€€€€€€€A1

500, -200 (+200)

500, 100 (-200)

€€€€€€€€€€A2

-100, -200 (-200)

-100, 100 (+200)

options could be suitable for departments and optimize their local ΔTSI but not the global ΔTSI for the whole organization.

Pareto Optimality Definition: A set of strategies S’ is said to be Pareto Optimal as compared to set of strategies S, if utility value of a player can be increased by replacing S with S’ without decreasing the utility value of other players. When a unique solution to game cannot be found using Nash Equilibrium, Pareto Optimal solutions concept is applied to find most optimum solution. For example in our example scenario, we have a third alternative choice to parallel run both channels, papers based as well as web based i.e. strategy (A3, R3). Assuming 50% of customers would switch to web channel, the increase in power usage and FTE would be 50% less then (A1, R1) alternate for ICT department. Similarly, the paper usage and FTE for marketing department would also go down. In this alternative the ΔTSI value for marketing as well as ICT department would increase slightly. Thus the resulting value of the game, i.e. ΔTSI would be 600 - 150 + 200 = 650. Thus Strategy S’ (A3, R3) is Pareto Optimal than Strategy S(A1, R1).

CONCLUSION This chapter introduced our ICT Architecture Framework consisting of five views and Sustainability view being unique to this Framework. We also explained how game theory could be used

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to model and analyze Total Sustainability Indicator which depends on various actions chosen by different business units acting as players. Game Theory solutions such as Nash Equilibrium help us find the answer to questions such as “What is the best strategy combination for optimal value of Total Sustainability Indicator” for whole organization. Uncertainty and quantification of risk in choosing different strategic options means we need to utilize mixed strategies as outlined in game theory. Pure strategy is where we have all the information in a game and hence the strategy can be chosen purely on the basis of this information. In case of uncertainty or incomplete information availability, a probability distribution is applied to pure strategies and expected utilities of total sustainability indicator are calculated. The core contribution of our continued research efforts in this direction is to apply theories of solving co-operative games in modeling sustainability view and to analyze the total sustainability indicator with such models. The Green ICT Metrics discussed earlier, along with attributes or properties of various ICT Architectural elements discussed in this chapter, could be applied to calculate an organization specific formula for calculating change in TSI. Hence TSI based on Game Theory allows creating a state space of strategies for different choices. A global view of organization by utilizing such model is essential for choosing Green ICT strategies which are optimal for the organization as a whole.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS The Total Sustainability Indicator is a right step in moving towards a holistic approach to sustainability in organizations. We are working on developing models and frameworks for different situations. Enterprise Architecture claims to look at the organizations in a holistic manner (Goel, Schmidt, & Gilbert, 2009). Integration of TSI with EA models and frameworks offers interesting op-

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portunities for business and technology. Another important paradigm closely related to this research is TSI for Virtual Enterprises. Virtual Enterprises are ad-hoc collaborations of organizations coming together to exploit a specific business opportunity (Goel, et al., 2009). VE is formed quickly when the opportunity arises and disposed off once the opportunity is over, hence there is an opportunity for Green ICT framework to play a greater role. Existence of a framework will ensure that otherwise ignored Green ICT aspects are taken care of in such a fast paced dynamic environment.

REFERENCES Abdou, J., & Keiding, H. (1991). Effectivity functions in social choice. Dordrecht, Boston: Kluwer Academic. About.com. (2009). About.com homepage Retrieved 25 Nov 2009, 2009, from http://architecture.about.com/od/greenconcepts/g/green.htm Baird, D. G., Gertner, R. H., & Picker, R. C. (1994). Game theory and the law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Binmore, K. G. (1994). Game theory and the social contract. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Brams, S. J. (1975). Game theory and politics. New York: Free Press. Brams, S. J. (1985). Superpower games: applying game theory to superpower conflict. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Brams, S. J. (1990). Negotiation games: applying game theory to bargaining and arbitration. New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203180426 Brams, S. J., & Kilgour, D. M. (1988). Game theory and national security. New York: B. Blackwell.

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Bryant, J. B. (1980). A general method of solution for game theory and its relevance for economic theorizing, Staff report # 54 Available from http:// www.minneapolisfed.org/research/common/ pub_detail.cfm?pb_autonum_id=335 Buchler, I. R., & Nutini, H. G. (1969). Game theory in the behavioral sciences. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. Chatterjee, K., & Samuelson, W. (2001). Game theory and business applications. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Colman, A. M. (1995). Game theory and its applications in the social and biological sciences (2nd ed.). Oxford [England]; Boston, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann. Colomer, J. M. (1995). Game theory and the transition to democracy: the Spanish model. Aldershot, Hants, England. Brookfield, Vt., USA: Edward Elgar. Dugatkin, L. A., & Reeve, H. K. (1998). Game theory & animal behavior. New York: Oxford University Press. Enquist, M. (1984). Game theory studies on aggressive behaviour. Unpublished Thesis (Ph D), University of Stockholm, Dept. of Zoology, University of Stockholm, 1984., Stockholm. EPEAT Inc. (2009-10). Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Website Retrieved 01 Dec 2009, from http://www.epeat.net/ Friedman, J. W. (1986). Game theory with applications to economics. New York: Oxford University Press. Goel, A., Schmidt, H., & Gilbert, D. (2009). Towards formalizing Virtual Enterprise Architecture. Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops, 2009. EDOCW 2009. 13th, 238-242.

Goel, A., Tiwary, A., & Schmidt, H. (2010). Approaches and Initiatives to Green IT Strategy in Business. In Unhelkar, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Green ICT: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives. Hershey, PA, USA: IGI Global. Green Grid. (2009-10). Green Grid Website Retrieved 10 Dec 2009, from http://www.thegreengrid.org Hanley, N., & Folmer, H. (1998). Game theory and the environment. Cheltenham [England]. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. Lamb, J. P. (2009). The greening of IT: how companies can make a difference for the environment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: IBM Press/Pearson. Ordeshook, P. C., & Mathematical Social Science Board. (1978). Game theory and political science. New York: Published for the Center for Applied Economics, New York University [by] New York University Press. Osborne, M., & Rubinstein, A. (1999). A course in game theory. MIT press. Rubinstein, A. (1990). Game theory in economics. Aldershot, Hants, England. Brookfield, Vt., USA: E. Elgar Pub. Schulz, G. (2009). The green and virtual data center. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications. doi:10.1201/9781420086676 SPEC. (2009-10). Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) Website Retrieved 01 Dec 2009, from http://www.spec.org/ Von Neumann, J., & Morgenstern, O. (1947). Theory of games and economic behavior: Princeton university press Princeton, NJ.

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Total Sustainability Indicator (TSI): TSI is a measurement framework based on mathematical models and games theory. TSI is a numerical value representing the sustainability indicator for the overall organization. TSI in our ICT Architectural Framework can be analyzed using game theory models of co-operation among different business units. Game Theory: Game Theory study of decision making and mathematical modeling in cooperative and collaborative situations among multiple participants called players. Green IT Metrics: Green IT Metrics are numerical values assigned to measurement of

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different calculation of Green ICT Resources and Green ICT Business Goals and Drivers. Pareto Optimality: A set of strategies S’ is said to be Pareto Optimal as compared to set of strategies S, if utility value of a player can be increased by replacing S with S’ without decreasing the utility value of other players. Nash Equilibrium: A set of strategies is said to be in Nash Equilibrium if every player is playing his best strategy against the other players best strategies. Utility Theory: Utility theory is used for calculating satisfaction or desirability value of consumption of various good and services or of allocation of various resources. Utility theory helps find numerical value for preference of one choice over another.

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Chapter 41

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities Saugato Mukerji University of Wollongong, Australia Aditya K. Ghose University of Wollongong, Australia

ABSTRACT Green ICT is a lot more than efficient air-conditioning of data centers and switching off monitors and desktop PCs. ICT has the ability to give rise to and continuously enable energy saving on a scale 50 to 100 times bigger by becoming the technology that detects and prevents process inefficiency of energy intensive supply chains. Energy efficiency that can only be sustainably achieved as a result of using ICT creatively is outlined in this chapter. The authors consider the optimization of supply chain as a crucial enabler of the overall effort of an organization to improve its environmental credentials. Therefore, undertaking the audits of an organization’s supply chains, and ensuring that the end result improves its efficiency is one way of limiting the carbon generated during its activities.

INTRODUCTION Consider this fact: All the desktop PCs of a 10000 man steel manufacturing company collectively use 2000 kilo watts or 2MW of power assuming each pc and monitor draw 200watts. The same company may produce 20000 tonnes of steel a day at an energy use intensity of 25GJ/tonne. This works out to an average energy consumption of 5787 MW If ICT can facilitate a 2% reduction in energy use this works out to 116MW. The average DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch041

energy consumption in the steel company that is being used as a test case works out to =20000 (tonnes/day) *25 (GJ/tonne) *1000 (MJ/GJ) / (24*3600) (seconds/day) = 5787MW So it is not hard to see that any ICT driven supply chain efficiency improvement has a much bigger Green bang for the buck. Any reduction in energy use while maintaining the same production is a green improvement. The fact that supply chain energy efficiency and material loss reduction is far more valuable than dealing with end user desktops and laptops, this chapter talks about a SCOA a new way of looking at auditing

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

supply chains to uncover energy and material savings. The chapter also uses three case studies to illustrate the techniques outlined in the SCOA methodology All supply chains and particularly those in a large manufacturing enterprise are actually made up of two parallel supply chains which run together: the supply chains of energy and the supply chains of material. Some may argue the measured continuous information about the material and energy supply chain flows is also a supply chain of information even though it is of a secondary nature. The actual value flowing through the supply chains of a large enterprise is between 2 to 5 times the actual turnovers of a typical enterprise. This is not hard to imagine when you visualize the different stages of transformation that the input raw materials are subject to, as well as the number of stages and the extent of transformation in each stage. A 1% reduction in the loss or its conjugate that is 1% improvement in the yield in every supply chain is logically equivalent to 2% to 5% of the turnover. For an enterprise which makes a profit equal to 15% of the turnover this improvement can be worth 33% increase in the profits. The profit ratio of 15% of turnover has been harvested from the EBITDA in 2008 financial results for BlueScope Steel. It is not difficult now to see the importance in seeking to improve the efficiency of each major supply chain. While loss reduction via the discovery of suboptimal operational sequences and scenarios in an important source of improvement it is not the only one. It is just as important to detect quickly any departure from the best practice in major supply chains and to seek out the root cause and fix it quickly before this can make a major impact on the bottom line. ICT can play a critical role in facilitating and enabling this. Surprisingly there is still scope to build domain focused best practice dashboards and other tools, as in the past these were not done since energy was cheap and the

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focus was on producing more rather than producing efficiently. Each major supply chain can be decomposed into smaller ones at the level on a unit. In each these of these smaller supply chains there is a concept of best practice yield and conversion cost. Energy used in the unit operation and any additional inputs and labour make up the conversion cost. It is of great economic importance that the yield and conversion cost in each supply chain be kept as close to the best practice as possible. However the concept of best practice for an individual supply chain is not always the best possible yield or least conversion cost. Though counter intuitive this can be explained. The most optimal economic outcome for the entire enterprise may require levels of operation of individual; supply chains which are individually sub optimal. This is how ever not hard to understand. Consider a scenario where due to a global down turn the demand had dropped depressing the sale price below cost. In this situation the most optimal enterprise setting is to cut production down to the minimum levels at which the process can safely run, assuming full shutdowns are an expensive option. In such a scenario nearly all supply chains will need to run sub optimally. Though a crude example, it illustrates the fact that that global enterprise wide optimal solution may require suboptimal settings in the different supply chains that make up the whole. Further that these suboptimal settings though they represent the best practice at that point are not constant. The best practice setting for each supply chain will change with the global optimum setting. The global optimal setting often relates to the level of production which after being adjusted for existing inventory of finished\ product, will supply the required market demand. So the best practice yields and conversion cost in terms of energy and other inputs is thus a set of loading curves. Where the best practice is the

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

best yield or minimum conversion input cost for that level of operation. Another important issue with operating at the best practice is the fact that in a majority of scenarios a plant can only operate at best practice if all its major equipment and sub plants are in operation at best practice. It is thus a very useful piece of evidence when looking for root causes of a plant operating below best practice when a particular sub plant is departs from best practice. This narrows down the scope of investigation and leads to quick zeroing in on the actual source of the problem and its rectification. It is thus critical to be able to measure the key parameters of major plants and major subplants to allow the comparison with past best practice and to continuously update the plant best practice data. It is important to understand the patterns of variation in the key parameters in each supply chain as in a large integrated enterprise the variability in one plant or operation affects its downstream and upstream plants. It is the perfect knowledge of the patterns of variation their causes and impacts which empowers plant owners and production schedulers to avoid or reduce the occurrence of the scenarios that cause the most economic damage to the enterprise as a whole. The adoption of the above line of thinking by the management is very important to justify the investment in SCADA and Historian systems that can store a decade or more of plant data online instead of just a few weeks of few months. Though the cost of doing this has been steadily dropping as hardware costs of storage per gigabyte declines sharply. The availability of a decade of data is sufficient to mine and identify patterns of variations and establish clear cause effect relations. Entire plants can now be viewed as patients with a perfect medical record so diagnosis and prescribing solutions and monitoring their efficacy becomes much easier.

SCOA OUTLINE Supply Chain optimisation research has a body of work and several books including the one by Voss and Woodruff (2009) that have attempted to apply computational models to supply chains. The Mukerji and Ghose SCOA(2008) approach outlined here builds on all previous work, but is not satisfied with models that work most of the time adds the bit about perfect knowledge about the supply chain under ALL modes of operation. It urges further study and exploration until ALL operational scenarios can be explained as it believes only from this perfect knowledge about a supply chain behavior will emerge the ability to make further improvements in yield and efficiency. Especially when there scenarios only occur for a small part of the plant operation time. The Mason (2003) paper covers the ware housing and transportation aspects for some supply chains. SCOA agrees with is but takes a wider view of the supply chain to include solids, liquids, gases, energy and even services.

WHAT IS SCOA? SCOA is an acronym for Supply Chain Optimisation Audit and is a broad methodology proposed by the authors as the mechanism for doing systematic supply chain audits with the intent to discover improvement opportunities and to follow it through to successful implementation. SCOA is a logical collection of tools and techniques for systematically looking at the operations of an enterprise in terms of supply chains that make up the whole. SCOA is about striving to achieve close to perfect knowledge about the major supply chains of an organisation. SCOA asserts that it is only this perfect knowledge about the variability and its cause and effects that will allow lasting improvements in yield and operational efficiency to be made.

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Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

SCOA is about determining the key parameters whose variability tends to reduce the yield or operational efficiency of major parts of the supply chain. It’s about selecting or synthesizing 6 efficiency dashboard variables from 3000 available. SCOA is about validating variables with upstream, downstream or planning data to detect supply chain failures early, minimizing their cost. SCOA is about creating appropriate derived variables that allow the estimation of parameters that reflect supply chain efficiency in real time where such parameters are hard or expensive to measure. SCOA is a systematic process of studying: 1. the repeatable patterns of variation within the major supply chains 2. the effect these variations have on the upstream and downstream operations 3. about looking for the planning schedule and its contribution as a source of variation 4. capacity utilisation level and its contribution as a source of variation 5. to look for possibility of playing off 2 or more sources of variation against each other to reduce the effective variability of the key parameter. 6. cost and benefit of any proposed improvement on the enterprise wide scale to allow a rational comparison and triage.

WHY SCOA There are a large number of potential improvement opportunities. The benefits of some of these opportunities overlap in that there is more than one way to solve a particular problem. So there is a need to rank potential improvements according to cost benefit. In some cases the undesirable associated impact of a proposed improvement can take away a major part or even exceed the potential benefit. Such scenarios must be identified and eliminated. The reason for doing SCOA is to apply similar

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systematic consistent criteria to improvement opportunities all over the enterprise while being fully aware of the quantifiable benefits and impacts both of which are just as likely to occur outside the scope or sphere of operation of the unit or department where the improvement causing action must occur. SCOA allows an enterprise cost benefit to be done when evaluating and ranking each improvement idea. Most plants are operated on a profit and loss basis so the importance of allocating any enterprise level benefits to the plant that has to wear the cost of the localized suboptimal operation cannot be underestimated. The computation and ongoing revision of such imputed credits is very important in breaking the silo mentality and motivating plant managers to enthusiastically participate in global optimization across the enterprise. Application of SCOA and the associated visual highlighting of inefficient operational scenarios also make it hard to hide them from review. It is also now possible to statistically or on a trend basis evaluate the frequency and totalized amplitude of the undesirable scenarios. An example of this would be flaring of excess fuel or dumping of material due to a supply chain bottleneck. So SCOA facilitates a carrot and stick approach to review the plant management regimes.

SCOA TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES •

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Study of the transformation and transport details of the supply chain to understand the key inputs and key result related measured parameters. Creation of efficiency related derived variables to replace desirable measurements that are not easy to get in real-time due to process hazard or just the additional cost. Value modeling of supply chain flows of material and energy and establishing long term trends and best practice benchmarks for major internal supply chains

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

•

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• •

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Failure free yield trend to eliminate noise and provide quick feedback about underlying efficiency and yield. 2of 2or 2of 3 voting logic using measured or planned values to detect potential failure. data mining to query recorded historical data to uncover cause and effect relations Do further causal analysis to determine sensitivity of process yield, offspecs, process failures and efficiency to process input variability Determine the best practice achievable at each operation level and continuously revise the resulting loading efficiency curve. This is vital to quickly flag departure from best practice. modeling to fit historical worsening process stability trends to the degradation in identified root causes Correlating event history of previous occurrences vs trends of identified associated causal parameters. Trying to coordinate the operational schedules of the upstream and downstream plants to minimize the process inefficiency, process disturbance and process variability in the associated supply chains using the sensitivity knowledge gained earlier. Using the SCOA process stability pyramid to avoid or eliminate process variability in real time

SPONSORSHIP FOR SCOA SCOA requires strong sponsorship from the senior management as it is likely to uncover opportunities for improvement that may require revising existing operations beliefs or changing decades old established operational procedures. It is easy to understand that the direct operations owners of plant will resist any such proposals that involve them making a change as their values are more about achieving production and for them typically

the efficiency or yield is at a lower priority. The management however is responsible for both the production and unit cost of production therefore they are likely to be more receptive about proposals for improvement that lead to efficiency or more yield without sacrificing production. It is very hard to overestimate the importance of strong sponsorship as the promised results from SCOA will only start to become visible later in the journey. When the results start to appear the importance of sponsorship is not as critical as at this stage many people are willing to be supportive.

LEAN SCOA SCOA is not about installing a huge amount of additional instrumentation to measure a large number of new parameters. It is instead about carefully evaluating what instrumentation is available. It is about synthesising or deducing required computed variables using available measured or planned data. Finally it is about adding the small amount of essential additional measurement capability. This approach of doing more with what is available is strongly aligned with the Lean 6 Sigma approach suggested by ISixsigma and other sites. SCOA is about carefully making associations between patterns in these carefully identifies or synthesized efficiency or yield related variables and actual local and upstream/downstream plant level events, levels of capacity utilization, variations in quality or composition of major inputs. Then using this knowledge to rate what is significant and what is not. All this creates the knowledgebase which can act as the bias for improvement.

SOCIAL OR BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF SCOA The SCOA approach can be used to break down the human social behaviour related issues that often become roadblocks or a drag on the initia563

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

tives to achieve organizational or society’s global optimized goals. SCOA can become the means to overcome the silo mentality where departments impede or resist organisatiowide improvement initiatives. SCOA can be a sensible uniformly accepted means to promote enterprise benefit and deemphasize unit level improvements & benefit. Often unit level profit and loss is given excessive importance in the absence of a suitable enterprise wide means of measuring performance in a way that is aligned to the organizational goals. SCOA can become the means for achieving prioritised alignment of improvement investment with organizational goals. SCOA can be the tool for ranking and prioritizing business improvement projects. SCOA can become a means for including the people and behaviour related aspects of analyzing mass transit systems and transport infrastructure as supply chains in which travelers can be provided opportunities to cooperate. Organisations typically are very hierarchical and behavior of employees or their managers is structured around alignment with the goals of the manager or general manager heading the unit or division. Alignment with a wider organizational objective where it conflicts or is not completely aligned with the local managers KRAs is considered incongruous. SCOA by its ability to do plantwide measurement of efficiency and yield and to carefully do global accounting of costs and benefits allows a better alignment to be made between the enterprise level and the plant level objectives. This better alignment is not at a macro level of annual targets but is a real time alignment at each level of plant capacity utilization. The objective at the plant level now becomes a combination of the plant level objectives and the enterprise objectives. The plant general manager’s goal in a post SCOA scenario is level of achievement of both the objectives.

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As a practical example consider plant manager that has to ensure the same daily or weekly production. The enterprise goal could be to ensure the production rate was not peaky but was uniform over the entire period. Excessive high rates tend to force use of expensive auxiliary fuel conversely very low rates tend to cause flaring of the inhouse produced byproduct fuel. With SCOA tools in place the accountability to the enterprise goal would be highly visible and hence was likely to be achieved more often. The outcome of SCOA in this example would be greener as peaky fuel consumption is inefficient and obviously flared fuel is wasted.

SCOA AND THE PROCESS STABILITY PYRAMID IDEA SCOA borrows extensively from the safety related literature James Reason 2000 and several other references including Dowell 2001,Shillito 1995, Bird et al 1996 and Phimister etc al 2001 and tries to map their learning to process stability. SCOA analogues are the following: minor accident equates to offspec or down graded product where as a major accident relates to process failure and unexpected plant downtime. SCOA borrows from the safety pyramid and its prescription regarding accident to design out, eliminate by scheduling or procedural controls in a process situation. Figure 1 shows the SCOA version which has been called the Process Stability Pyramid. The main thrust of the SCOA pyramid is to reduce the number of occurrences in which process variability has to be corrected for in real time to avoid process failure. Other impotent aspect is the desire to reduce the variability before hand by better planning and scheduling and even earlier by better process design. The logic being lower the frequency of real time corrections lower is the freq of process failures.

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

Figure 1. Process Stability Pyramid

DOMINANT INPUT AND THE SWISS CHEESE MODEL “Reduce variability of key process inputs to get stability” say the Six Sigma practitioners. So why are key inputs Important? James Reason the Professor of Psychology proposed the Swiss Cheese Model of how “defences safeguards and barriers may be penetrated by the accident trajectory”. The Hypothesis proposed here is that the diameter of the holes in the slices of cheese is dependent on the extent of variability and the Figure 2. The Swiss cheese model and process variability

amplitude of disturbance in the Dominant or key process input. The hypothesis in the Figure 2 was first presented by the authors at the CCCI 2008 Summit. SCOA attempts do develop or discover sensitivity of process failures to the amplitude and frequency of occurrence of higher variability in the key process inputs of a process. There may be a point of nonlinearity in curve of Probability of failure and amplitude of variability. When the amplitude of variation of the key input exceeds this value failures are very likely. Discovering the exact value of the point of discontinuity is very useful as the process or plant owners could intervene to prevent it being reached and this reduce their failure rate. Consider a real world scenario which shows this behaviour. A reheat furnace has many zones and separate sets of burners for each zone. The flame lengths of each burner are carefully set at the nominal pressure. The pressure of the fuel varies as the supply and demand changes. When the pressure drops a PID loop attempts to maintain the energy flow to the furnace by opening the

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Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

valve however this does not guarantee a uniform nominal pressure and results if different flame length at different sets of burners. The end result is formation in hot/cold spots and gradients. This increases the likelihood of failure. Statistical analysis showed the likelihood of failure increased sharply once the amplitude of the pressure drops exceeds a certain value. In the above example, the fuel is a key input in the slab reheating process. Pressure drops represent variability in the key process input. So the amplitude of the pressure drop can be considered proportional to the size in the hole in the Swiss cheese thus making failure more likely.

SCOA AND THE CONCEPT OF DEPARTURE FROM BEST PRACTICE, AS A LEADING INDICATOR OF EQUIPMENT ABNORMAL OPERATION OR PLANT FAILURE. •

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The SCOA philosophy is best practice yield and efficiency are achievable only when all the equipment and sub-plant associated with the unit or the supply chain are working perfectly. The converse is more important. When the SCOA yield and efficiency trend fall away from the best practice at that operating level, this it is very likely that some equipment or sub plant is operating abnormally or under stress. Typically such equipment or sub plant has a high probability of going on to a more serious failure mode. The exception to this is the startup after planned shutdown scenario in which some process setting get detuned leading to a departure from best practice. SCOA by its recording of best practice and of the previous efficiency, yield trends makes it possible to easily note departure

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from best practice. It is possible to see in near real-time at hour or shift level when plant operation falls away from previous trend. It becomes easy to use the event system to see what significant event happened just prior to the plant efficiency or yield dropping. This is often quite dramatic and step changes can be associated with event. This greatly simplifies faultfinding. The SCOA analysis of the contribution of the different causes of yield loss provides actual clues to help narrow down the source to the affected subsystem or equipment. SCOA is only systematizing what the insightful among the experienced operators already know. i.e. when the conveyor power use per tonne start to rise, above best practice at that level of capacity use, then the likely suspects are the belt, bearings on rollers etc. It is also possible to prioritize what to investigate first based on the probability of the root cause established using the event system statistics of the prior occurrences of the same elevated power use scenario.

SCOA CAN BE APPLIED TO THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, GASES, ENERGY OR EVEN SERVICES AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT The SCOA techniques can be applied to any supply chain irrespective of the primary product being supplied through the supply chain. The entire toolset will not apply to each supply chain however the principles will apply. The most important aspect of SCOA is the emphasis on understanding the patterns of behavior of the supply chain and its immediate environment under different operating conditions. Though it may appear irrelevant or academic to document and understand the intimate

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

details of the supply chain it is this knowledge which will throw up new opportunities to make savings or provide the means to compensate for future unfavorable changes in operating conditions or environment. SCOA can be very effectively applied to transport or energy, as the understanding of the demand patterns and their causes can allow the most effective and easy to do remedies to be discovered for worldwide problems like road or airport congestion or peak power. Studying the supply chain of energy it soon becomes obvious that HVAC (heating ventilation and air-conditioning) represents over 45% of urban peak power load and is a key controllable measure. Perhaps SCOA is even more important in the product development process where it is important to understand the full range of operating conditions under which the product has to survive and operate. Biomimetics is the new science representing the study and imitation of nature’s methods, designs, and processes. Many ideas from nature are best adapted when they serve as inspiration for human made capabilities said Bar-Cohen 2006 (Bar-Cohen,2006). In effect this is reverse engineering the successful designs of the most creative inventor (nature) that has refined its designs by continuous testing and natural selection over millions of years. A recent product development in ocean energy technology is mimicking the seaweeds in allowing the ocean currents to sway sea bed attached flexible actuators. The design allows the actuators to lay flat on the seabed when faced with excessive storm surge forces. In this situation the ocean current energy is the key variable in the supply chain. SCOA principle is to understand the patterns of variation of the ocean current. Storm surges are recurring patterns which occur for a small proportion of the time yet are critical and must be fully understood.

VALUE-BASED MODELING Modeling the major supply chains presents a unique opportunity to do what if analysis under different scenarios. Such modeling can be used for quantification of likely outcomes of strategic alternatives. Modelling is a SCOA aspect that requires a fair degree of engineering manpower investment. However there is a major real time bonus which is available after having taken the trouble to build a model that tracks the actual plant. All large supply chains that carry a large value flow should be retrofitted with such failure detection system based on (modeled – actual) key parameter divergence. Such systems help maintain best practice by pinpointing emerging degradation instantaneously. The benefit from early detection of divergence from best practice is significant saving when the supply chain is carrying significant value. Consider the model of an energy supply chain, in the form of a reticulated fuel gas distribution system. This can be completely modeled based on level of production and consumption settings. Values of pressure and flow at every node can be predicted and should match the actual within say 3%. So a discrepancy of 9% or more is clearly an indicator of a failure in the gas distribution system. It can be verified that major system faults were associated with a major divergence between modeled and actual values of the key parameters i.e. node pressures and flows. If a model of the normal system has been developed and verified with actual practice then it can be put to excellent use in real time to detect departures from the normal behavior and more importantly provide an instant indication of the location of the problem. This can provide •

Instantaneous alarming in case of equipment failures (valves failing) or pipelines developing a leak.

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Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

•

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Also provide immediate feedback on faulty restarts of plant after maintenance or breakdown repairs. I.e. an isolating valve not put back to its normal operations degree of openness The model thus functions like an expert system without having to put in thousands of bench mark values to be able to prune search space and highlight anomalies. Model – actual discrepancy focuses attention to the problem area during re-commissioning.

SUBTRACTION OF MODELED VALUE FROM ACTUAL PARAMETER VALUE, TO DETECT MALFUNCTION Building a database of expert knowledge to predict likely problem based on, the model value – actual value along with other parameter values and operating capacity utilization levels. While modeled and actual parameters will always differ, it is the pattern of the difference which contains a lot of information about the type of problem, if the model is accurate to a fair degree.

PROVING THE ACCURACY OF THE MODEL With the current cheap storage where 1 GB of data costs less than 1dollar in hard disk costs, it is possible to store large amounts of process data. This can then be played back and compared with he model by making the model make its prediction based in the immediate past data. This is very helpful in tuning the model by choosing a number of scenarios which define a range of operating conditions. For example this could be no load 10% 30% 50% 80% 100% and 110% of capacity. When the model is well structured and properly tuned the error between the predicted value and the logged value of the modeled parameter will

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be within the defined model accuracy criteria. Model retuning should be an ongoing automatic background task.

THE MODEL SHOULD ALSO TEMPORALLY ACCURATE BY APPROPRIATE DESIGN As we will show in a case study, a model may contain a time dependent element which will allow the model to continue to produce accurate predictions as the years pass. In the enclosed case, this modeled temporal aspect, was the yearly additional constriction, of a critically sized bottleneck segment of a gas distribution system.

THE ACCURACY OF THE MODEL CAN BE CONSTANTLY TESTED IN REAL TIME AND SUGGESTED CORRECTIONS RECOMPUTED It may be necessary to retune models based on comparison with actual data. The suggested correction can automatically be recomputed. It should be possible to define a set of criteria which automatically extract actual scenarios from logged data. The model runs can happen against these scenarios to generate model predictions, suggested corrections and revised improved model predictions. The Plant engineer thus has only to review the results and accept the corrections to retune the model.

DETECTING PROCESS ANOMALIES BY RECOGNIZING MODELED ERROR PATTERNS Large differences between modeled predicted and measured data can have patterns. For the purposes of this document this shall be called model error patterns. These patterns are indicative of very

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

Table 1. A partial list of such modeled error patterns Modeled error pattern

Likely scenario

1.

All locations after certain point in the supply chain show high modeled errors

A hard equipment failure or pipeline failure at the first modeled error point in the supply chain.

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A single point of error located at one location where downstream points are error free.

Likely to be a transducer failure or transmitter failure or a I/O termination failure.

3.

A multiple point of error or a group of points located at one location where downstream points are error free.

Likely to be power failure at a specific location leading to a common I/O module, where all the concerned inputs are terminated, being offline.

4.

Higher than normal error pattern i.e. larger than normal error at a specific location. i.e. higher temperature, poorer control of key variable.

An equipment operating in distressed condition. Likely to cause a hard failure soon. i.e. A faulty valve or a damaged bearing

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Consistent poorer equipment or subplant efficiency or higher conversion rate i.e. GJ/tonne

Wrong operating practice or poorly equipment operational settings

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Repeated high error instances above certain loading.

Equipment that has got de-rated and is failing to work at closer to full capacity. This is a warning of an impending hard failure. Needs servicing

specific fault or error scenarios. Recognizing the specific modeled error pattern automatically and then retrieving and communicating the appropriate associated rectification strategy constitute a sophisticated expert system. This utilizes the fact that the model assumes equipment operation as per specifications; hence any less than normal operation flagged by the model error pattern is a detectable real-time warning sign which can be qualified and interpreted with associated data. Table 1 demonstrates with great clarity how a good operating model can be used as a leading indicator of impending or current plant operational problems.

WHAT IS PARALLEL SENSITIVITY? When two or more units operate in parallel in one stage, of a multi stage integrated manufacturing process fail to operate identically, and this causes stability issues and process failure in the down stream unit then the operation may be called Parallel sensitive. One of the of the following processes is parallel sensitive and the other is not •

Banks of 2 or more industrial boilers delivering steam for power generation or process steam.

Figure 3. Parallel Sensitive Process – a special case

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Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

•

Two or more reheat furnaces delivering hot slab for a downstream rolling mill.

Plant owners should recognize stages of their plant which are parallel sensitive and devise suitable operating strategies and settings to mitigate the impact of parallel sensitivity. The reheat furnaces delivering alternate slabs are a parallel sensitive operation whereas the banks of parallel boilers are not. Parallel sensitive operation usually results in failure where the downstream process is setup to achieve a great deal of physical transformation. In case of the rolling mills that follow the reheat furnace. The slab discharged by the reheat furnace is reduced in thickness by 20 to 200 times and elongated by more than 100 times. This transformation happens as the temperature drops from 1250C to 500C during the process. Rolling processes use adaption systems which setup the mill stands using that previous rolling information then use the difference between modeled and measured forces to tune. The problem with alternate discharges from different furnaces is that unless they are delivering identically heated product the adaption never gets to work well. Even a 10C difference can cause adaption to become less effective. This problem is further compounded as the inequality in heating between slabs from different furnaces happens along the length, the width top and bottom. So a slab from Furnace A may be hotter at the head end but cooler in the middle than one from furnace B. Many solutions have been tried to maintain consistency of temperature in slabs from different furnaces operating in parallel, including • • •

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Doing localized controlled induction heating of the strip. Using reflective covers along the slab and strip rolling and runout tables. Better and more agile controls to adjust for end to end or across with temperature gradients.

While all of the above work to some extent, at some times, SCOA recommends trying to reduce the variation at the source by operational heating practices, scheduling or furnace capacity and configuration design at the parallel reheat furnaces. The details how to do this cannot be freely shared freely due to its commercial value. The important thing however is the principle of attempting to stabilize the parallel sensitive process by reducing variation as early in the supply chain as possible with a preference to non real time means like planning and scheduling.

CASE STUDIES 1. Plate Linker: yield optimisation by automated nesting orders to feed slabs 2. Reducing variability of consumption upstream to free additional fuel for base load use 3. Modeling to drill down into causes of poor pressure control in a gas distribution system with stabilizing gas holders

Case Study 1: Plate Yield Optimisation by Automated Nesting Orders to Feed Slabs Figures 4 and 5 highlight how the feed slab is cut into child slabs. Each child slab is then rolled into a pattern of the required ordered plate thickness. The pattern is then cut into the smaller pieces which are of the ordered plate dimension. This supply chain used to operate by working out the required child slabs from the plate orders, which were then added up to arrive at the required feed slab also called skelp. This skelp was cast to order then cut into child slabs rolled into patterns and cut into deliverable plates. This was efficient as there was no unnecessary yield loss. However this supply chain could not be sustained, as this process took 6 weeks to go from order to plate.

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

Figure 4.

The company faced competition from overseas, as pre manufactured plate could be delivered with a 4 week lead time including the shipping delay. The company could deliver orders within 2 weeks by absorbing additional losses in cutting standard sized slabs. It was not manually possible to optimise the nesting of ordered plates into suitable child slabs and then pick the best

skelp to minimise the yield loss. The manual plate scheduling team struggled to keep losses down. The business was suffering an additional 0.5 to 1% yield loss. This is 2000 to 4000 tonne on 400,000tonne plate operation. The stake holders responsible for the supply chain realised there was an opportunity to use a computer to search the possible combinations to

Figure 5.

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Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

Figure 6.

pick the right slab. An adaptive branch and bound algorithm was developed and refined to produce desired optimal solutions. But this was not the final solution. While the system was picking the skelps with minimum yield loss it was causing excessive crane lifts. The skelp with the least yield loss in many cases was buried under 10 skelps in the piles which were upto 13 deep. Adding constraint for minimising number of lifts the algorithm was modified to start searching for solutions with skelps located close to the top of the piles. This worked well, the improved solutions were almost as good as before but also minimised the number of crane lifts. This proved to be an additional benefit as the crane capacity used to choke production in certain product mixes. The improved solution reduced the choking effect as well. So how is this SCOA? It is SCOA because it involves understanding not only the existing supply chain limitations but also helps identify the desired supply chain configuration and then identifies the technique to provide the optimal solution. SCOA is about having an intimate knowledge of all aspects of a supply chain and

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then using this knowledge to arrive at the most beneficial economic outcome. SCOA is about scoping and providing scaffolding for the business case to apply technology in improving efficiency of supply chains.

Case Study 2: Reducing Variability of Consumption Upstream to Free Additional Fuel for Base Load Use This case is about observing patterns of variation of key parameters and then attempting to address the root causes of this variation. The bright blue graph in the figures below was the internal Coke ovens consumption of the Coke ovens gas produced in the coke oven batteries. There was no obvious explanation why the consumption varied a sinusoid of amplitude 5000 to 6000 m3/hr as shown in Figure 6. Studying the pattern of COG usage in the individual batteries it was observed that two out of the 4 batteries has a square wave consumption pattern. It turned out the two batteries had different firing rates for inners and outers. This resulted in square wave patterns of individual battery consumptions.

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

Figure 7.

It was then not hard to explain the sine wave as two square wanes with a small phase shift combine to produce a sine wave. It turned out the two patterns were staggered by 5min and both has a 1 hour cycle time. This opened up an opportunity. The large 5000m3/hr sine variation in consumption meant that this amount could not be allocated as base load for generating power or steam. It was proposed that one battery firing timing, be shifted by 25 min to make the two battery consumption square wave patterns cancel each other out. This was done. The variation disappeared and the consumption settled as a straight line around the midpoint of the original sine wave. The resulted in releasing, 2000 to 3000 m3/hr as base load for power generation or raising steam. The results are in the pictures as Figure 7. The total saving potential is over 500,000 GJ of energy per annum. Energy costs of NG have varied between $4 and $8 per GJ in the last 2 years and the long term will reach and exceed the higher value. This creates a multimillion dollar saving p.a.

The important issue is not the saving but the principle that led to it. It is important to study the patterns of variation and seek explanations if the pattern of variation cannot be easily explained. In this case it was the sinusoidal variation with a consistent frequency. A consistent frequency of a variation can normally be assumed to be a result of programmed timer event. Any variation should be studied by looking at the operations that lead to it. It should also be analysed if the variation is indeed harmful or causing a loss. Unplanned variations in key parameters often contain hidden potential savings which can be unlocked by eliminating the variation. As always the underlying principle that underpins SCOA is the following. If we understand intimate details of the supply chain and the causes behind each variation and pattern of the variation, then this very knowledge creates the scaffold for safely harnessing these variations in a controlled way to capitalise on global optimisation opportunities. Such global opportunities are likely to encompass other operating units upstream and downstream of the unit where the variation will happen.

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Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

Case Study 3: Modeling to Find Root Cause of Poor Pressure Regulation in a Gas Distribution System Inspite of the Operation Stabilizing Gas Holders This case is about the poor and worsening pressure regulation that was observed in a gas distribution system that even had a large gas holder as an inbuilt stabilizing element. The root cause was eventually traced to a small segment of the gas distribution system that was under sized and was getting progressively worse as time progressed due to deposition of tar. It took modeling of the gas distribution network to arrive at this surprising conclusion. The case is presented below with a detailed process introduction. By product fuel gases are produced at many large integrated manufacturing plants. Steel manufacturing is one such process in which coal is converted to coke by anaerobic heating and a variety of volatile and gaseous constituents of coal are liberated and separated into different products including Tar, Sulphur, Naphthalene, BTX,Ammonia and Coke ovens gas. The heating is done externally by burning a fuel gas mixture in a chamber between adjacent ovens. A coke oven is typically less than a meter wide, 5 to 10m high and around 20 to 30m deep. The conversion of coal to coke typically takes 17 to 18 hours. This time is called the coking cycle time. The coking process must complete with the complete removal of the volatile material before the oven is pushed to force the coke out into a waiting coke carrier. If any VM (volatile matter) remains the coke will smoke and release the volatiles into the atmosphere and this will be called a green oven. Environmental air quality standards are very harsh on green oven occurrences. The coking cycle time can be stretched out to 19, 20…24 hours or more by slowing the rate of heat application to the oven through the oven walls. The oven may be kept banked after the coking cycle time but no more

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volatiles emerge from it as there is nothing but coke (almost pure carbon and ash) left. The Coke Ovens Gas (COG) produced from an individual oven does not have a uniform composition during the coking cycle. The initial 5 to 7 hours the composition is 80% hydrocarbon with a predominance of methane (CH4) and small amounts of C2H2, C3H8 and higher hydrocarbons the rest is H2. After the 5 to 7 hours the composition changes. The hydrocarbons reduce over time during the coking of each oven and the H2 percentage increases. At around 7 or 8 hours a cross over happens and the hydrocarbons and H2 are equal. After around 10 hours the composition of COG is more than 80% H2. The change in composition also represents change in calorific value. As a result a particular oven produces higher calorific value gas in the first 5hrs due to the CVs of initial composition being much higher. A typical coke battery can have between 50 and 100 ovens. Each oven has a capacity typically between 20 and 30 tonnes. A plant may have 2 or more operating batteries to assure continuity of production of coke and COG. Surprisingly it is the continuity of COG production which may be more valuable as the coke can be produced in advance and stockpiled. COG however is needed as a fuel in the rest of the integrated steel plant operation and cannot be stored in advance due to its low density. COG holders are used in the distribution system to even out the differences between COG production and demand. To give battery operations staff regular breaks every 2 or 3 hours ovens are pushed and charged continuously in blocks then a inter block break is taken when no ovens are pushed or charged. A freshly charged oven produces gas with a higher calorific value and greater flow. The ovens at the end of the coking cycle produce less gas and of lower calorific value. So the COG production from an individual battery follows a rough saw tooth that rises in the push charge block and then declines during the interblock break.

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

COG production thus varies during the day both in volume and calorific value. This variation can be aggravated when the variation patterns of two or more batteries synchronize. A typical 5MT steel plant may have a COG make that varies between 100,000 and 120,000 m3/hr under normal operation. Most of this COG make most be fully consumed immediately as it is too inconvenient to store. Most conventional integrated steel plants have Gas holders that can hold 30 to 60min of the COG make. This provides insurance against short term disturbances in COG supply and provides the ability to function as a stabilizer to even out differences between COG supply and consumption. One the holder is full any excess has to be wasted by flaring. The typical design capability of such gas holder system may be to supply or accept 20 to 30% of the normal COG make per hour. The case described here had a capacity of 65000m3 and a normal COG make of 120,000 m3/hr. The Gas holder had been commissioned 20 years ago and at the start seemed to adequately perform the required function of evening out supply – demand differences of upto 25000 m3/hr. The system pressure would fall slightly when the holder supplied COG and rise by a similar small amount when the Holder accepted COG. However as years went on the gas holder became progressively less effective in its role of smoothening out supply and demand variations in the 15000m3 pipeline that carried the COG from the source to the consuming plants. The volume of COG supplied or accepted by the holder declined and the amplitude of the pressure disturbance had steadily increased over time. After 10 years the gas holder could only supply about 15000m3/hr for an acceptable level of pressure disturbance where initially it could supply 25000 m3/hr. There seemed to be no explainable reason for this degradation. Studying the COG supply chain and the flows and pressure drops revealed a simple truth. The

pressure at the gas holder(4.5kPa) was the same as 15 years before as it was determined purely by the weight of the gas holder lid spread over the area of the lid. Also that most of the pressure disturbance was happening in 500m section of pipe between the gas holder and a nearest measuring point in the gas distribution system. The drop in this section appeared to be proportional to the flow. The size of the pressure drop however did agree with the computed pressure drop computed with the diameter of the pipe sections in this 500m. It was hypothesized that the increased pressure drop and reduced flow to and from the gas holder had been caused by exceptionally large deposit of tar which had reduced the size. A model was built for the entire gas distribution system using a Gas flow modeling software this showed a significant deposition in the order of 50cm was needed to produce the observed restricted flow and increased pressure drop. However such a large deposit was not consistent with observed deposit thickness in other sections which had test points. This discrepancy between the model predicted deposition over the 500m length and actual observed value provided a very useful clue. It led the investigators to validate the actual pipe diameters against those recorded in the drawing. A discussion with the maintenance supervisor revealed there was an error in the drawing and that a small 120m section was actually narrower than the drawing. This is shown as the bottleneck in Figure 8. The analysis shows the excessive pressure drop in a small segment in Figure 8, is compromising the pressure regulation function of the gas holder by adding an additional, flow direction and amplitude dependent pressure drop of upto 0.45kPa at close to initial rated full flow. This is a large distortion in the order of 10% of the nominal pressure of 4.5kPa. While simple the calculation on the left panel explains completely the observed variation in pressure under different flow both to and from the gas holder, superimposed on the overall level of sup-

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Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

Figure 8.

ply and demand in the COG distribution system. The rolling mills (hot strip mill(HSM)and plate mill(PM)) which are at the end of the pipeline and experience the largest pressure variation. This 120m of narrower pipe was found to be nominally 0.9m dia whereas the rest of the 500m section was either 1.2m or 1.5m dia. Modeling quickly confirmed that the majority of the pressure drop was happening in this narrower 120m of 0.9m dia pipe. Modeling also confirmed that the pressure drop increased with the flow rate however the share of pressure drop in the 120m

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section remained constant at 84% of the total additional pressure drop. The important finding was the importance of the modeling in exposing the existence of the bottleneck narrow 0.9m section. The actual observed pressure drops for the same level of flow were extracted from the historical data. As expected the pressure drop increased with every passing year for a particular flow rate. This was consistent with the logic of deposition. Different values of deposition per year were applied to the model in an attempt to match the actual observed pressure drops. Two facts were

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

Figure 9.

obvious. Firstly the deposition in the bottleneck 0.9m section was the dominant factor the deposition in the rest of the pipeline did not matter. Secondly that there existed a rate of deposition for which the model would be able to replicate the actual measured pressure drops for actual flow rates at all points of time in the last 15 years and would also be able to make valid pressure drop vs flow predictions for the future. The value of deposition for which the model fitted the measured pressure drop, flow data was a diameter reduction of 1cm per year. This figure matched the observations in other accessible sections in the pipeline. Thus modeling of the supply chain is a powerful SCOA technique for exposing any degraded pipeline operational capability. This is a critical incisive non destructive tool which allows necessary repairs and maintenance to be done in a focused manner with minimum waste. In this case it identified a problem in 2% of the 5Km long reticulation which was causing an increas-

ingly damaging degradation of the gas distribution system stability and pressure regulation. The graphs in Figure 9 were produced using the model when the COG supply from the source was 77500m3/hr and the holder was augmenting or reducing this by different amounts and the adjusted amount was being supplied to the consuming units. The Blue graph show the pressure variation for different flows if the entire pipe line had a minimum width of 1.22m The red line shows the modeled pressure variation if the bottleneck 120 m 0.9m dia segments had been further narrowed to 0.8m. These graphs matched the actual data around 2004 end after 10 years of operation. The magenta line shows the curve for min 1.22m dia pipe with the holder pressure increased to 4.7m. Having the model in place it is possible to test all these alternatives.

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Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

The graphs clearly show how the pressure regulation degraded sharply as the flow to or from the holder increases. There is thus a family of curves for pressure regulation under different constrictions. A curve can be produced for the same variation in the flow for each available free diameter in constricted section. In this case a range of flows was taken from -25000 to 25000 in steps of 5000 m3/hr. There is thus a separate curve for each level of constriction. The curves are similar and parallel in appearance so can be called a family. The family of curves visually shows a property that the pressure regulation degrades with increase in flows as the constriction increases and the available diameter of the bottleneck section declines. We know that the constriction increases with time as more tar is deposited in the inside of the pipe reducing its effective diameter. This is consistent with the physical observation the pressure regulation is degrading with time. Which in practical terms means lower pressure is being measured during identical flows from the holder to rest of the system, at the point where the pipe joins the system every passing year. The reverse is true in flows from the system to the holder. We can run the model assuming different rates of deposition per year to arrive at the rate of deposition that produces a family of curves that are able to closely fit the actual flow and pressure scenarios at any point in the history. At this value of annual deposition the model is perfectly tuned with time.

A TUNED MODEL CAN PREDICT AND HELP OPERATIONS DECIDE WHEN A FIX MUST BE DONE A model that fits all pressure regulation scenarios in the past 10 years or more can be safely assumed to reliably predict the future assuming the same rate of annual diameter reduction by deposition that fits all scenarios of the past 10 years. This is

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a powerful feature as allows plant owners to look into the future and know how bad the regulation will be at points in the future so they know when they must bite the bullet to take a shutdown and fix the problem. This can also be a powerful regulatory tool in the hands of statutory authorities responsible for safe operation of plants and issuing renewals of licenses to operate.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE REGULATION IS POOR? Refer to the discussion on parallel sensitivity to revisit what happens when a key input to the reheating process which in this case is the fuel gas pressure suffers from poor regulation. The process designers design for an acceptable level for variation based on assumptions and cost of materials and other process inputs like energy. Any relaxation in the acceptable level of variation should only be done in full consultation of the process designers. Such reviews actually should be done every few years or when the cost of major inputs changes substantially. Operations staff even if they have several decades of experience should not relax the acceptable level of variation on their own as this can lead to degradation of performance in associated plant which is not immediately obvious. In reality in old plants such poorly reviewed relaxations often happen as operations find it easier to tolerate increased variation than to detect and address the source of the increased variation. This in turn creates opportunities for SCOA practitioners to identify the resulting inefficiencies and search root causes.

CONCLUSION SCOA helps identify the sources and patterns of variations.

Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities

SCOA asserts that attempting to control the variability in real time with an engineering action using a feedback control system will always lead to some residual uncompensated variability passing through into the process. The result is a higher statistical rate of failure. i.e. number of failures per 10000 units. SCOA prescribes looking for offline non-real time means for planning or designing out a larger proportion of the variability leading to a smaller need for real time compensatory control action. The cases presented here only illustrate some of the SCOA techniques and tools. The other claims and assertions made here have been presented at conferences and are in the process of being compiled into a book on SCOA. For anyone that has a doubt about the green credentials of SCOA, consider this about the energy cost of making steel. It takes 20GJ/tone to make steel and 1.4GJ/tonne to reheat steel from ambient to the 1200C temp needed for rolling. SCOA helps improve yield or reduced process losses. So a 100kg material saving that can be achieved in rolled 20t coil can save 2GJ in terms of the energy invested in making it. This is enough energy to keep a family car running for several months. Consider that this happens several hundred times a day it is easy to see how SCOA is green and lean since the SCOA solution does not need building new infrastructure. Most typical carbon abatement approaches including clean coal require building new plant which itself has a carbon footprint in the materials used to build the new plant. While the cases studies were around steel they did include solid slabs, plates and even gas supply chains. There were also some examples of possible SCOA use in transportation, logistics and energy. SCOA is thus a set of tools and techniques which leverage and mine stored plant data and assimilate aspects of the current accepted process improvement techniques including lean, 6 sigma, TPM to help provide best economic outcomes.

SCOA is a improvement philosophy which asserts that intimate knowledge of the supply chain and the patterns of variation of its key parameters will expose opportunities for improvement. SCOA if applied is also the means of keeping plant operating on or close to best practice by quickly highlighting any departures from best practice while also providing clues about the location or root causes of the problem. Future trends indicate manufactures of MES and ERP systems are starting to collaborate to help SCOA like regimes take shape. The low hanging fruit in process or business improvement has already been taken. Future improvements must be won by data driven techniques that recognize patterns that correlate with inefficient operation and allow the inefficient scenarios to be avoided or planned and scheduled against. The author predicts increasing use of SCOA like modeling to cause early detection of impending failures.

REFERENCES B MJ (2000). 320:768-770 “Human error: models and management “ James Reason, professor of psychology. 18 March. Department of Psychology, University of Manchester, Bechtel, C., & Jayaram, J. (1997). Supply Chain Management: A Strategic Perspective. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 8(1), 15–34. doi:10.1108/09574099710805565 Bird, F. E. Jr, & Germain, G. L. (1996). Practical Loss Control Leadership. Loganville, Georgia: Det Norske Veritas Inc. Dowell, A. M. III. (2001). Regulations: Build a System or Add Layers? Process Safety Progress, 20(4), 247–252. doi:10.1002/prs.680200406 ISixsigma. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www. isixsigma.com/index.php?option=com_content &view=article&id=201&Itemid=27

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Mason, S., Riberaa, P. M., Farrisb, J. A., & Randall, G. K. (2003). Integrating the warehousing and transportation functions of the supply chain. Transportation Research Part E, Logistics and Transportation Review, 39(2), 141–159. doi:10.1016/ S1366-5545(02)00043-1 Mukerji, S. (2008). Carbon Centric Computing: Harnessing technology to reduce carbon foot print of industry and optimize business outcomes. Paper presented at the National Research Summit on Carbon- Centric Computing: IT Solutions for Climate Change. University of Wollongong, Australia Mukerji, S., & Ghose, A. K. (2008). Using Supply Chain Optimization Audits for carbon footprint minimization in an energy supply chain presented at the Carbon Footprints in your Supply Chain. Paper presented at Marcus Evans conference. Sydney, Australia, July 30-31. Phimister, J. R., Oktem, U., Kleindorfer, P., & Kunreuther, H. (2001). Near-Miss Management Systems in the Chemical Process Industry. Working paper, Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, University of Pennsylvania, BlueScope Steel (2008). Retrieved from http:// www.bluescopesteel.com/go/investors/financialreports/financial-reports-2008/18-august-2008/ bluescope-steel-full-year-results Shillito, D.E.,(1995). Grand Unification Theory or Should Safety, Health, Environment and Quality be Managed Together or Separately? Trans IChemE 73/B, pp194-202, Th Warren Center. (2006).Biomimetics and ocean power appeared in “Engineering the future ebulletin Issue 48 November 2006” http://www. warren.usyd.edu.au/bulletin/NO48/ed48art3.htm Biomimetics: biologically inspired technologies edited by Yoseph Bar-Cohen 2006, CRC Press

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Voss, S., & Woodruff, D. L. (2009). Introduction to computational optimization models for production planning in a Supply Chain. New York: Springer.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS SCOA: Supply chain optimsation audit. This is a methodology MES: Manufacturing Execution Systems HVAC: Heating, ventilating and air conditioning ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning Regulation: Efficacy of the control regime Yeild: Percentage of input material converted to deliverable output SCOA: Supply chain optimsation audit. This is a methodology MES: Manufacturing Execution Systems HVAC: Heating, ventilating and air conditioning Process Variability: Variation in key process parameters from the desired nominal value Parallel Sensitivity: A sequential downstream process which is sensitive to inconsistent variation of the piece outputs of its upstream process Process Stability Pyramid: A graphical representation of the concept of reducing the risk of process failure by reducing the number of real-time interventions or automatic corrections needed by better planning, scheduling and process design. Dominant input: A critical or most important process input whose variability may affect manufacturing process stability

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Chapter 42

Understanding the Context of Green ICT Deepa Gheewala Misys Software Solutions, UK Vivek Gheewala UST Global, USA

ABSTRACT Green ICT can be considered as the adoption of eco-friendly processes by an organization in its practice of Information and Communication Technologies. The last decade, in particular, has seen profound awareness on the part of individuals as well as organizations in adopting such processes that are environmentally friendly. While automation and related computing activities continue to lead to exponential use of energy quotient, Green ICT continues to chip away at the ‘resigned’ views of the decision makers to their environmental responsibilities. It is vital today to understand the increasing importance and the context provided by ICT in helping prove the green credentials of an organization. ICT operates at systems and applications level; at the end-user level through the desktops and printers; and at the enterprise level through its data centers, servers and other infrastructure. Green ICT is all about optimization and improvement of the organization’s operational processes without hindering its progress in use of technology. This chapter discusses the context provided by ICT in helping an organization to prove its green credentials. The issues discussed in this chapter include hardware and software implementations, infrastructures, attitudes and policies of decision makers, and how they influence global warming. Therefore, it includes carbon emissions, and the use of software applications in measuring and reporting carbon emissions.

INTRODUCTION Change in climate has been a major concern in past two years. Increasing levels of green house DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch042

gases such as carbon dioxide, methane etc led to rise in earth’s surface temperature resulting in global warming. With the increase in awareness of global warming, individuals and organizations have started taking steps towards greening the environment. Several standardization bodies like

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Understanding the Context of Green ICT

The Global ICT Standardization Forum for India (GISFI), the European Telecommunication Standardization Institute (ETSI) etc. lead the greening of ICT. Green ICT is usually referred as greening the Information and Communication Technology industry. Green ICT community encourages the organization to follow eco-friendly processes and nominate eco-leaders to drive the promotion of green ICT within the organization.

DEFINING GREEN ICT Green ICT is “adaptation of eco-friendly processes, materials and infrastructure by an organization in its practice and use of Information and Communication Technologies”. The reason for understanding and promoting the usage of green ICT is that it plays a vital role in the operations of an organization. ICT is also a significant contributor to the Green House Gases, resulting from the organization’s business activities. Such understanding, through a carefully thought-out framework, can assist the organization with the following: •

• •

• •

•

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Identify the areas of operations within the organization that are producing Green House Gases (GHG) Measure the amount of GHG being produced by the organization Optimize the energy usage by the organization while producing and delivering their goods and services Lessen the usage of hazardous materials and their proper disposal Promote the recyclability of materials and biodegradability of discarded products and factory waste. Create awareness among all the employees across the organization towards adopting Green ICT.

Green ICT considerations in practice have the potential to provide substantial amount of eco-friendly benefits. In major countries like UK, Japan, Republic of Korea, etc; Governments provide special subsidy and tax exemptions to the organizations that are implementing Green ICT policies (HM Revenue & Customs, 2008; WEC, 2001; UNESCAP, 2000). Green ICT is also being used as a USP (Unique Selling Proposition), every company campaigns it’s product by proposing a unique point which attracts the customers to switch to their brands. Nokia has already started green campaign by recycling older mobile phones (Nokia, 2009). Hence, the above factors encourage organizations to use Green ICT in order to sell their products and thereby displaying the eco friendliness of the company.

GLOBAL WARMING AND GREEN HOUSE GASES Global warming has become a phenomena spread across geographies and there have been increasing concerns about the reasons for the earth’s warming. The term Green House Effect was originated from green houses used for gardening in cold weather. These green houses were built of glasses, plastic or translucent material. These houses heats up mainly because the sun warms the ground inside it and this in turn warms up the air within the green house. The air continues to heat up as it is trapped inside the glass house while in atmosphere the hot air gets mixed with the cool air. The enhanced green house effect is trapping the heat over the entire earth leading to anthropogenic global warming which is caused mainly due to the human activities such as burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil etc), usage of electricity, cutting of trees etc (John Houghton, 2004). Green House Gases can be defined as the chemical compounds found in the earth’s atmosphere which traps the outgoing terrestrial radiation and warms the earth’s atmosphere. The increase of

Understanding the Context of Green ICT

Green House Gas concentration (mainly carbon dioxide) leads to a substantial warming of the earth and the sea, called global warming. In other words, the increase in the man-made emission of Green House Gases is the main cause for global warming. Major Green House Gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide (John Houghton, 2004). We all know that chemical, leather and manufacturing industries emit the maximum amount of gases having carbon content. These are only some of the contributors in overall carbon emission. There are many other factors/entities that are responsible for the emission of carbon. Substantial amount of CO2 along with noxious chemicals like polyaromatic hydrocarbons are released during the Portland cement manufacturing process, which involves the application of intense heat to limestone in large kilns (G. C. Bye, 1999; United States, 2002). Large amount of carbon dioxide is emitted from vehicles in the form of smoke. For example, a vehicle driven 1000 miles per annum having average mileage of 20 miles/ gallon would release 843.64 lbs (0.42 tons) of CO2 per year with 50 gallons of diesel (AfterOil EV, Annual CO2 emission calculator, n.d.). Usage of copier paper and paper products like tissues and paper cups is increasing exponentially with the growing professional etiquettes and sophistication. Recycling of copier paper saves approximately 7.2 trees. The usage of paper is so high that trees are cut in large amount which indirectly increases the carbon quantity in atmosphere (Environmental Paper Network, 2007) Increase in business tours and traveling causes the aviation to contribute highly towards the carbon emission. IT industry is not lagging behind in contributing to the carbon emission. Since last year, researches proved that carbon emitted by IT industries is more than that of the aviation industry (Farah Master, 2009).

Heat Dissipation The amount of heat liberated by any substance or material is called Heat Dissipation. A study on

micro processors has been done to observe heat dissipation. The result of the study shows, not only GHG contribute to global warming but processors are equal contributors to global warming. A research has been made to implement tiny cooling elements like carbon nanotubes in the processor to control the heat dissipation (Ado Jorio, Gene Dresselhaus, M. S. Dresselhaus, 2008).

ROLE OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE IN GREEN ICT The new advances in the technology fields have led to more and more manual processes being automated, thereby leading to a much greater use of computers. It’s the dawn of ‘e-era’ where communication and data storage play an important role. Servers are being used for storing worldwide data and the need of data servers is increasing every day. Climate group’s SMART 2020 report estimates the exponential increase in the usage of ICT products and services. The report estimates increases in the usage from current one billion to seven billion by 2020.The challenge now is to double capacity of data servers without doubling its own energy consumption. Advancement in technology means increasing usage of electronic items. This usage of electricity not only increases cost but also plays an important role in generating Green House Gases. The following are some of the commonly used devices that contribute to the global warming. Mobile phones and Laptops: With the increase use of technology, the use of mobile phones and laptops has increased (Donald Hislop, 2008). These equipments require idle charging up to two or four hours, but in most households these equipment are left unattended for the entire night. Research need to be encouraged to make the mobiles and laptop in such a way that they do not consume energy (electricity) after they are fully charged. Renewable sources of energy like solar power which has proven ability as a 583

Understanding the Context of Green ICT

supplement to electricity, should be harnessed for charging devices like mobiles, portable music players and laptops. Servers: In companies, servers are kept on for 24/7, even though they might not be in use by people all the time. In practice, there are separate servers for admin, active directory, and different projects. Each of these servers demands energy, infrastructure and suitable climate to keep them up and running. Virtualization and usage of Blade servers should be increased. SMB (Small & Medium Business) firms should be encouraged to use technologies like cloud computing. Cloud Computing is a model in which the data storage and computation is done outside on some off-site server rather than on the user’s own device or personal computer (Jeremy Geelan, 2009). Cooling Systems: Cooling systems are required to control the heat emitted by the huge servers which consume a lot of electricity and indirectly add to the carbon emission. Decreasing the use of servers can reduce the usage of cooling systems. Data centers can be placed at geographically cold places like Antarctica where natural weather can take care of the heat emitted. Toxin: Today’s fastest growing components of the urban waste stream are Electronic Wastes (e-waste). Either when these electronic items are broken or when they are not disposed properly, they release a huge amount of toxin elements. These toxins like lead, mercury, cadmium, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and others cause a major concern for our environment. E-waste needs to be taken care separately and should not be considered alongside the other garbage (Leslie King & Deborah McCarthy, 2009). Other Contributors: Apart from other different carbon dioxide contributors, let us look into household items contributing their share in totality. Daily, we use electricity for fluorescent lights, fan, refrigerator, television etc. Not limiting to this, daily preparation of food also contributes

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towards the CO2 emission. CO2 is inevitably created by burning fuels like oil, LPG, natural gas, diesel, organic-diesel, petrol, organic-petrol, and ethanol. Human activities such as the combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation, often referred as “anthropogenic CO2” (Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M.Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.), 2007) have caused the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide to increase by about 35% since the beginning of the age of industrialization (NOAA News Online, 2005). Figure 1 shows the carbon emissions for various food items.

CARBON EMISSION AND EMISSION FACTOR The amount of carbon dioxide emitted by various activities such as vehicle exhaust, burning of coal, burning natural gas, industrial smoke etc is called Carbon Emission. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has given formula to calculate carbon emission. EPA is an organization whose mission is to take care of the human health and protect environment. EPA uses various estimation tools to calculate emission factor such as FIRE (Factor Information Retrieval). E = A x EF x [1-(ER/100)] (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.) Where: E = emissions, A = activity rate, EF = uncontrolled emission factor, and ER = overall emission reduction efficiency in percentage.

Understanding the Context of Green ICT

Figure 1. Carbon emission by various food items (Data obtained from: http://timeforchange.org)

Emission Factor can be described as “Amount of pollutants released from a given measure of material in a given time frame” (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.). Carbon emission factor assists evaluation of emissions from a range of sources of air pollution like vehicle exhaust, industrial waste in form of gas, etc. Organizations should keep track for their carbon emission in atmosphere based on the activities such as volume of computers used in organization, transportation, electricity used in functioning of office, etc. Accounting of carbon emission factor can provide information like what all activities are responsible for carbon emission and based on the information gathered organization can build an effective strategy to control their GHG emission.

Carbon Footprint A carbon footprint is defined as the total amount of Green House Gases produced directly and indirectly to support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). In other words, the vehicle engine burns

fuel which creates a certain amount of CO2 depends on the fuel consumption and driving distance. Another example is, heating a house using energy resources like oil, gas or coal also generates CO2. Few other examples are the usage of electric room heater where the generation of electrical power emits a certain amount of CO2. Food items and provisions are used every day for survival of human. The production of food and commodities also emit certain quantity of CO2. The footprint created by individual is very low, however collectively it has a significant impact on global carbon emission. Carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2, which is induced by the activities in a given time frame. Usually a carbon footprint is calculated for a time period in a year. The carbon footprint is a very powerful tool to know the individual contribution towards global warming. Table 1 shows carbon footprint of various fuels emitting carbon dioxide per unit. Consider a car consumes 10 liter diesel per 100 km, then a drive of 300 km distance consumes (3 liters x 10 liters/km) = 30 liters of diesel for

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Table 1. Carbon emission for different fuel types [Data obtained from http://timeforchange.org/ what-is-a-carbon-footprint-definition] Fuel Type Petrol

Unit 1 gallon (UK)

CO2 emitted per unit 10.4 kg

Petrol

1 liter

2.3 kg

Gasoline

1 gallon (USA)

8.7 kg

Gasoline

1 liter

2.3 kg

Diesel

1 gallon (UK)

12.2 kg

Diesel

1 gallon (USA)

9.95 kg

Diesel

1 liter

2.7 kg

Oil (heating)

1 gallon (UK)

13.6 kg

Oil (heating)

1 gallon (USA)

11.26 kg

Oil (heating)

1 liter

3 kg

300 km, which makes (30 x 2.7 kg) = 81 kgs of carbon diaoxide to personal carbon footprint. The average CO2 emission for the year 2006 is about 12 to 15% higher than the data shown in figure 2. (Data obtained from: http://timeforchange.org/CO2-cause-of-global-warming) The year wise CO2 emission statistics have shown a steady rise between 1991 and 2005. The average increase Y-O-Y (year on year) has been 0.7 billions of ton which is quite alarming. Year 2007 has been no exception and has shown exceptional increase in CO2 emission crossing the 30 billion ton mark. This calls for a serious thought on the containment of the dioxide. Figure 3 shows the total CO2 emission (in million tons) by countries for the year 2008. (Data obtained from http://rainforests.mongabay.com/ carbon-emissions/) China has been leading the brigade of carbon emitting countries in 2008, closely followed by US. An important fact to be noted is that Iran, S Korea, UK and Canada have been growing up in the same measure and joining the Top 10 league. While India is the third largest contributor, Russia, Japan and Germany take the middle path.

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Figure 2. Year wise carbon emission

INNOVATION IN ICT Organizations have to come up with more innovative ideas to optimize the energy utilization for ICT. Most of us tend to keep the workstation switched on even when not in use. The reason for leaving workstation on is computer does not shut down or start as household appliances like a fan or bulb. The computers need to have faster shut down and boot up times so that it is possible to execute on/off operation in real time. Modern office structures are made up of tainted glass walls instead of concrete. The tainted glass walls can be converted to solar panels which in turn, can be used to generate solar power. A small solar panel unit can be kept at home to recharge devices like iPods, mobile phones and Notebooks. Use of solar energy helps in reducing the electric consumption. Street lights and traffic signal lights can be powered by solar energy. A photo sensor device attached to street lights can help in reducing wastage of electricity. Wireless network topology implemented in offices helps in saving use of material and also the cost of maintenance.

Understanding the Context of Green ICT

Figure 3. Top ten carbon emitting countries of 2008

Green ICT to Watch Out For The research to increase the efficiency of solar cells by more than 20% with the use of nano wire photonics has been initiated by HP Labs. This HP initiative targets to manufacture the cells at the cost of cells used in space applications. The Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for MS Dynamics AX dashboard is being developed by Microsoft in order to track the energy consumption and emissions by the companies. Each company can track their energy consumption and gas emissions by making environmental data collection a part of their normal business process. A new process involving, non-vacuum, solution-based manufacturing for CIGS (CopperIndium-Gallium-Selenide) solar-cell modules is expected to increase current efficiency from 6%12% to approximately 15%. The aim is to reduce the cost, minimize the complexity and improve ease of producing solar electric power. (Rikki Stancich, 2008)

Infrastructure Strategy Some time back, the magnitude of a company was measured by its head count and the space of building it has occupied. A company having 10,000 employees and building facilities expanding in several different geographical locations was considered to be a giant. In recent years, the parameter for this measurement has been changed. Today, the number of servers and the power consumed for a company’s functioning determines the size of the company. Strategic geographic location of infrastructure is a very important factor in reduction of energy and operative expenditures. Data servers produce a huge amount of heat energy. Air conditioning systems are used to maintain the specific constant temperature required for the operation of servers. This air conditioning system consumes a huge amount of power and hence increases carbon emission. In recent times, organizations are moving their data centers to cooler geographical regions (Kate Galbraith, 2009).

DECISION MAKER’S PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS GREEN ICT Green has become a buzzword in the corporate world. Every industry wants to mention the green strategies and policies in their product and/or process portfolio. In the near future, each company will have their green department to adhere to standards specified by government for the process/product. Corporate CIOs and CFOs must work towards the administrative structure to support Green ICT. Each corporate has social responsibilities towards the society and in the same line companies are taking up environmental responsibilities too. The main motivation for decision makers to green their process/product is not just environmental consideration, but also reduction in cost.

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Decision makers tend to adopt the green drive mainly if the solutions are affordable and give substantial profit. There are several factors which influence the decision maker to adopt Green ICT. They are • • • • • •

Reduction in costs. Government regulations and inducement Clients, Consumers and Vendors’ pressure Competitors’ action Environmental consideration and Maturity of Green IT industries.

Factors driving green ICT may vary upon the size, nature and location of the organization.

CONTRIBUTORS FOR PROMOTING GREEN ICT Developer’s contribution: Continuous performance monitoring and optimization of application. Avoid unnecessary request to application servers and datacenters. Utilize the power of SOA (Service-Oriented-Architecture) to dynamically allocate and optimize workloads across several applications. Database administrator’s contribution: Optimize the query/procedures as far as possible. This will avoid unnecessary CPU utilization. Resource Manager’s contribution: It is quite obvious that assigning a right person to the task can reduce the development time and increase quality of the work rather assigning it to a novice. An expert will take comparatively lesser time to accomplish his task hence the CPU utilization will be less. Quality tester’s contribution: Writing automated test scripts can reduce turnaround time of testing which in turn reduce the use of CPU energy and man power required to accomplish the task. Information technology administrator’s contribution: On request of new server for deploying

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internal applications, use of virtualization helps in reducing usage and maintenance of multiple boxes. Human Resource’s contribution: Reduce the usage of paper stationery associated with the processes and encourage the use of electronic forms (eForms) or digitized contents. Avoid paperbased workflows in office such as Leave approval process. Digitize content and information assets of legacy system. In a nutshell, make the office paperless as much as possible. Facility manager’s contribution: Enforce the habit to shut down machines when not in use, replace the paper cups to individual mugs, unnecessary use of tissue paper should be avoided, do not print documents/e-mails unless it is necessary, use of sensor systems for lightning and air-conditioning should be implemented, use of staircase instead of elevators should be recognized. Use of public transport, cycling and car-pooling should be encouraged for commuting. CEO’s contribution: Support Green product and process in office, encourage vendors and client to implement green process in their organization. Business travel should be avoided whenever possible instead video conferencing and telephonic meetings should be encouraged. Though the above activities, individually doesn’t save a considerable amount but collectively it helps to save a huge amount of energy and cost of operation. Each organization should have an Eco- Leader who executes and enforces the green steps.

GREEN INITIATIVES INCLUDE Many IT companies have already taken initiatives to move their process and products towards “Go Green”. Summarizing some of the initiatives: Managing IT waste and recycling it. Nominating Eco leaders and conducting green audits. Few companies created energy efficient infrastructure which utilizes more of natural light and air to main-

Understanding the Context of Green ICT

tain office environment. Steps have been taken to reduce the usage of print out, paper glasses and tissues. Multinational Companies like Microsoft, IBM, HSBC and Google are encouraging the use of green computers (Jason Harison, 2008). Few companies have started encouraging employees to use public transport/ car-pooling for commuting to office. Giving preference to telephony-video conferencing rather than travelling whenever possible. Moving data centers to cooler regions. Japan leads among the countries that have taken steps towards reducing carbon emissions using information and communication technology. It has scored the sustainability index as 16. United States follows Japan with the score of 20 and other countries like UK, France, Germany and Brazil ranks third with the score of 21(Patricia Garcia, 2009).

CONCLUSION Shifting to Green is not effortless, but ICT provides enormous opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions. ICT consumes sizeable energy and is accountable for 2% of total carbon emission; however efficient and proper utilization of ICT can help in reducing global warming and in preserving the environment. Throughout the chapter we have tried to high light the following: • • •

•

•

Characterizing Green ICT. Global warming, Green House Gases and carbon footprint by several entities. Hardware, Software, Infrastructure, Process and People playing important part in Green ICT Decision maker’s perception towards going green, Responsibilities to be carried out by each role in organization. Innovation in ICT

REFERENCES Ado Jorio & Gene Dresselhaus & M. S. Dresselhaus. (2008). Carbon Nanotubes – Advance Topics in the Synthesis, Structure, Properties and Applications (pp. 21–23). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. AfterOil EV. (n.d.): Annual CO2 emission calculator, Retrieved from , accessed 21/02/10 Bye, G. C. (1999). Portland cement, Heron Quay. London: Thomas Telford Limited. Galbraith, K. (2009). Using the weather to Coll Data Center, : published at Green Inc., 2009, accessed 21/02/10 Garcia, P. (2009). Japan leads global green ICT list. Retrieved from < http://ecoseed.org/en/generalgreen-news/green-business-news/green-businessnews/5572-Japan-leads-global-green-I-C-T-list >, accessed 21/02/10 Geelan, J. (2009). Twenty-One Experts Define Cloud Computing. , accessed 21/02/10 Harris, J. (2008). Green Computing and Green IT Best Practices on Regulations and Industry Initiatives, Virtualization, Power Management, Materials Recycling and Telecommuting. New York: Emereo Pty Ltd. Hislop, D. (2008) Mobility and Technology at Workspace New York: Routledge (Taylor and Francis e-Library) Houghton, J. (2004). Global Warming. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. King, L., & McCarthy, D. (2009) Envioronmental sociology. In 2nd Ed, Recycling “Trash for Cash” (p-193). Lanham, MD: Rowman and LittleField Publishers

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Master, F. (2009) Computing industry CO2 emissions in the spotlight. Retrieved from , accessed 21/02/10

WEC. (2001). Energy efficiency policies and indicators policies. World Energy Council London. Retrieved from < http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ research/report-54.pdf>, accessed 21/02/10

NOAA News Online. (2005). After two large annual gains, rate of atmospheric CO2 increase returns to average, NOAA reports. Retrieved from < http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/ s2412.htm >, accessed 21/02/10

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Nokia (2009) The Theme is Green. Retrieved from , accessed 21/02/10 Revenue, H. M. (n.d.). [Evaluation of Enhanced Capital Allowance ][ECA][ for Energy Saving Technologies.]. Customs. Smart 2020 Report (2008). Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age. A report by The Climate Group on behalf of the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI)[www.gesi.org] Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., & Averyt, K. B. (Eds.). (2007). Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. UNESCAP. (2000). Promotion of energy efficiency in industry and financing of investments. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, <www.unescap.org/esd/ energy/publications/finance/index.html>, accessed 21/02/10 United States. (2002). Emission of greenhouse gases in the United States. Washington, DC: Energy Information Agency. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Technology Transfer Network Clearinghouse for Inventories & Emissions Factors. Retrieved from , accessed 21/02/10 590

Green Computers: The computers that have the built in capability to turn off the hard disk, USB port and other Input-Output devices when not in use, dim the monitor, having biodegradable peripherals. GHG: Green House Gases are the gases that absorb the infrared radiation. Global Warming: Increase of average temperature of earth. CO2: Chemical formula for Carbon Dioxide SOA: Service Oriented Architecture is a design that has a collection of various services that communicate to each other to perform some task. Cloud Computing: Cloud computing is model in which the data storage and computation is done outside on some off-site server rather than on the user’s own device or personal computer. Virtualization: Virtualization is a technique for hiding the physical characteristics of computing resources to simplify the way in which other systems, applications, or end users interact with those resources. Anthropogenic: Related to the influence of human beings or their ancestors on natural objects. USP: Unique Selling Proposition/Point is a pattern that is used for advertising campaigns Environmental Paper Network: A group of organizations have a common vision to promote the production and consumption of pulp and paper industry. EPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency is organization whose mission is to protect human health and nature.

Section 4

Social

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Chapter 43

Standards and Legislation for the Carbon Economy Alok Pradhan Macquarie University, Australia

ABSTRACT The implementation of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) at the wide scale expected by the Australian government within the next 5 years would require adjustments of practices from practically all industries. The political influence in the establishment of the Australian CPRS has skewed the focus on actually lowering the national emission levels. However, honest organizations need to adopt and implement practices in line with the ISO 14001 standard to achieve this goal. Furthermore, actual monitoring of emissions and trading challenges can be managed with technology such as emissions monitoring systems, known as Predictive Emissions Monitoring Systems (PEMS) and Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) and online trading applications. Recently, the Copenhagen International Summit was held to combat the impacts of climate change; however the results were ineffective in comparison to the Kyoto Summit in 1997. However, if an ethical view on the Kyoto Protocol is taken, then its results are also seen to be ineffective of achieving the goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions on an international scale, as organisations with profits as large as some national GDP’s and greenhouse gas emissions even larger have no such restrictions or imposed targets from an international standard.

INTRODUCTION The Australian Labor proposed a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) to lower greenhouse gases produced from industrial activities, and to abide with the targets imposed by the Kyoto ProDOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch043

tocol. At first, the Kyoto Protocol was established to minimise the of greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic activities.. There is now the impression that creating international protocols and implementable schemes such as the CPRS go a long way in minimising the impacts that human activities have on the environment, and and also protecting humans from the counter effects of

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Standards and Legislation for the Carbon Economy

the environment. This chapter discusses the role played by various legislations and social attitudes in achieving reduction in carbon emissions. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is an option presented by the Kyoto Protocol to achieve national set targets, for countries affiliated with the protocol. Australia ratified the Kyoto Protocol on the 3rd of December 2007, and came into effect on the 11th of March 2008. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement in which the countries involved settle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2008). The protocol sets commitment periods, which last for 4 years, where one emission target is set on an international scale, and distributed amongst the countries involved with the Protocol. The first commitment period is between 2008 and 2012, where the target is to reduce emissions by 5.2% of that they were in 1990 (UNFCCC 2008). Australia’s target for this period is to reach 108% of what emissions concentration were in 1990. Although this is an increase in emissions by 8% from 1990, it is a 30% reduction from its average emissions since then. A target to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020 and 60% by 2050 has also been set (Roarty 2002). Australia currently contributes to only 1.43% of total carbon emissions in the world. However, with Australia only having 0.32% of the world’s population, the country’s emissions per capita is one of the largest in the world (Raupach 2007). In 2002, Australia was the third highest carbon emitting nation in the world per capita behind China and U.S.A. Australia has since moved up to the second highest emitter per capita behind U.S.A (Roarty 2002). The CPRS consists of an emissions cap set by the government, which determines the maximum amount of CO2 emissions in tonnes that is permitted to be emitted by industries in Australia (Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW), 2008). The cap is split into permits, where one permit signifies one tonne of

greenhouse gas emissions. The permits are then allocated to those companies participating in the scheme. Any extra permits may be bought at auction, or a second market, or can be administratively allocated (Grubel 2009). Companies are essentially allowed to emit as much greenhouse gases as they want, as long as they have a permit for each tonne they emit (Department of Climate Change (DECC) CPRS White Paper, 2008). The permits can be bought and sold between companies, fundamentally creating a market. The price of permits will be determined by the market. If a company holds spare permitswhere it is emitting less greenhouse gases than the amount of permits it holds, it can sell those extra permits to a company which requires them (those that are emitting higher than their allocated permits) (DECCW 2008). The CPRS was proposed to be introduced to Australia in mid 2010, (Grubel 2009), however was postponed until 2011 by the Labor government led by Kevin Rudd on the 27th of April 2010 due to a lack of support from most stakeholders (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE), 2010). The scheme has now been further postponed to 2013 since Rudd was dismissed by his party, and replaced by Julia Gillard as Prime Minister. When the scheme was first proposed,there was an estimated 1000 companies around Australia that would have fallen under the mandatory carbon reporting scheme. (RepuTex 2008). Out of the 576 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions released per year in Australia, 169 million tonnes come from the 200 biggest companies in Australia- or the S&P ASX200 (RepuTex 2008). This is about 29% of the total amount of emissions. In this amount, 91% are solely from the materials, industrials, utilities and waste sectors. There is evidence suggesting these companies were not prepared for the implementation of the CPRS, only 6 months prior to its first scheduled commencement (RepuTex 2008; Hasan & Funston 2008; Kelly 2007). The results of a survey run

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by RepuTex (2008) of 350 Australian companies show that 80% of companies were only somewhat aware, or only knew very little about the carbon emissions trading scheme. 44% of the surveyed companies admitted they did not know when the scheme will come into effect, with another 20% giving the wrong answer- that is a total of 64% of surveyed companies unable to disclose when the scheme begins. From what is known, companies are siding with the amendments released by the opposition party (Liberals), as they encouraged a more business friendly system, with fewer restrictions (Edgecliff 2009; Hasan & Funston’s 2008; RepuTex2008). Under the initial Rudd government’s proposal, the S&P ASX200 would have to pay $2.8 billion in the schemes first 5 years, reducing its market value on the ASX by 2-3% (Edgecliff, 2009).

POLITICAL BACKGROUND The Federal Government announced the CPRS to be Australia’s primary policy which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions (DECC, CPRS white paper 2008). The primary objective to be achieved by the proposal was to reduce the Australian industry’s contribution to green house gas pollution, while continuing national economic growth. According to the Governments white paper on CPRS (2008), the goal was also to increase research into alternative or more efficient energy, and penalise companies who contribute an increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The Rudd government aim to slowly phase in the CPRS, as it is proposed to be a medium to long-term strategy to lower emissions (DECC, CPRS white paper 2008). The target was to reduce emission levels by 5% to 15% of what they were in 2000, by 2020. The main issues lacking in the proposal was the strict restrictions on energy companies and the agricultural industry. There was also the possibility of up 10,000 jobs being lost due to the

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high cost for companies of buying credits, and implementing changes within the company (SBS World News 2009). On August 13th 2009, the proposal was rejected in Parliament, with the senate voting 42 to 30 against the bill (Coorey, 2009). The Federal opposition were against the bill as they deemed the scheme too strict on emissions. They also believed that the agricultural sector should not be included, as it is already struggling with drought conditions and increasing demands for food production (ABC Rural News 2009). The opposition suggested that the agriculture sector instead should be part of a separate system, where they are rewarded with carbon credits if they undertake geosequestration and other projects which are beneficial for natural resources (ABC Rural News 2009). On October 18th, the opposition provided amendments to the proposal, including this omission of the agricultural sector. The other amendments result in more free permits handed out to industries, including coal fired power plants and mining companies, who are in the group of the largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions (SBS World News 2009). The Opposition party believe this approach would ensure job security, and help industries adjust to the scheme (Robb 2009). With the oppositions amendments, the scheme would have cost an extra $8.9 billion for the first 5 years, as a result of additional permits, and over $20 billion from now until 2020 (Keane 2009). Also with these modifications, there would only be a maximum 5% reduction in emissions by 2020 (SBS World News 2009). With the target range set between 5% and 15%, the opposition’s suggestions for the reduction of emissions would have only potentially reached the absolute minimum. It therefore would have not addressed the main issue of the entire scheme, of reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. CPRS legislation was once again introduced into Parliament on the 22nd of October 2009, however rejected again by Parliament in the 2nd of December the same year. A Double Dissolution

Standards and Legislation for the Carbon Economy

Figure 1. CPRS political timeline

election was therefore conducted in National Parliament, due to the same bill being rejected twice. Figure 1 shows the political timeline regarding the CPRS, between March 2008 and September 2010.

REVIEW OF CURRENT LEGISLATIONS ON CARBON EMISSIONS This section provides a review of the legislations incorporated with the proposed scheme. It is expected that this originally proposed legislation will remain when the scheme is due to implemented, however with minor modifications. The purpose of this section is to provide an overall breadth of discussion on legislations and how they help or hinder the reduction of carbon emissions in Australia. The Federal Government reintroduced the CPRS, with new legislation on October 22nd 2009, after being rejected the first time. One of the primary features of the proposed legislation is introducing an Emissions-Intensive Trade-

Exposed or EITE proposition. In this scheme, companies which engage in the production of goods that are traded internationally will be allocated permits administratively, rather than the companies having to purchase permits themselves (NSW Farmers Association 2009). These EITE activities include aluminium smelting, ammonia production, carbon black production, dry pulp manufacturing, glass containers production, high purity ethanol production, magnesia production, petroleum refining, silicon production and zinc smelting among others (CPRS White Paper 2009). Primary studies and drafts suggested that the cap for the first year of the scheme would have been set at 109% of what emission levels were in 2000, in line with targets imposed by the Kyoto Protocol for the first commitment period. The cap would drop 1% for each subsequent year, as table 1 shows. It is important to remember these figures will be slightly modified as a result of the scheme being postponed, and reflected with how much time remains with reference to the target

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Table 1. Caps to be set for the financial years 2010-2011; 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 Financial Year

Cap, relative to 2000 emission levels

2010-2011

109%

2011-2012

108%

2012-2013

107%

Source: DECC, CPRS white paper 2008

One aspect of the new legislation which has business rather than environmental benefits in mind is the unlimited amount of free permits available (The Farmers Association 2009). Free permits which can be allocated by the government are not covered by the emissions cap (DECC 2009). This attribute of the scheme does not encompass the primary objective, which is to lower greenhouse gas emissions, but rather assists those companies falling behind in targets instead of penalising them. The CPRS emission restrictions have been allocated to companies which fall under either of three categories, according to the proposed legislationof 2008. The first of these are companies that directly emit over 25,000 tonnes of CO2-e in a year. (NSW Farmers Association 2009). The second category is companies that either produce or import this same amount through secondary company processes, and the last category is a company that comprises of landfill activities which directly emits 10,000 tonnes of CO2-e in a year, and is within a certain distance (yet to be classified) of another entity that falls in the other 2 categories. Entities in the agricultural sector, as well as the forestry sector are exempted from this legislation. Other exceptions include any combustion of biomass as an energy source, decommissioned coal mines, landfill sites closed before the 30th of June 2008, and offshore emissions (NSW Farmers Association 2009). One of the 11 bills of the legislation involves the establishment of the Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority; a government department

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which will monitor, plan and generally manage the operations of the CPRS. The main purpose of the legislation as per the proposed bills is to respond to Australia’s commitment to the allocated Kyoto Protocol targets (DECC 2009).

CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CPRS One of the major issues regarding the scheme is monitoring emission levels for individual companies. Since monitoring emissions is a relatively new concept, in the sense that it has not been done on a nationwide scale before, the products at first may be expensive for smaller companies who have volunteered for the scheme. Setting the emissions cap is another challenge faced by the government. The size of the cap will be a factoring determent of how much trading will take place between involved parties (Gunasekera & Cornwell 1998). If there are drastic changes in the cap year to year, trading is predicted to slow down in order for adjustments in company processes to be made, however if there are only small changes made then adjusting to the new level will be easier (Gunasekera & Cornwell 1998). 25% of Australian emissions are not included in the CPRS. This has resulted in the value of allocated permits to be less than the set cap (Gunasekera & Cornwell 1998). A CPRS’s main goal is to put a price on pollution (Department of Climate Change 2008). This has been interpreted companies paying to dump pollution into the atmosphere (Pinguelli-Rosa & Munasinghe 2002; Boyd & Mansfield 2008), or paying to use the atmosphere as a dumping ground. With greenhouse gases able to be bought, sold and traded in general, pollution becomes a commodity. This reduces the intrinsic value of the atmosphere, and shifts it towards being instrumentally valuable, like a rubbish tip. The response to this argument has been’ as the atmosphere is sacred, and holds

Standards and Legislation for the Carbon Economy

Table 2. Components of the ISO 14001 Standard Section

Objective(s)

Policy

€€€€€• Define environmental objectives

Planning

€€€€€• Processes required to reach objectives €€€€€• A list or explanation of legislation company is required to comply with €€€€€• Environmental Risk Assessment €€€€€• Product/Service Life Cycle Assessment €€€€€• Any Further Research required

Implementation and Operation

€€€€€• Integration with other company systems €€€€€• Training programs and communication at all levels of management €€€€€• Ensuring preventive actions are taken to emergencies rather than reactive- Emergency response system €€€€€• Required changes to company’s organisational chart.

Checking and Corrective Action

€€€€€• Monitoring Systems, to ensure targets are being met €€€€€• Cyclical auditing programs

Management Review

€€€€€• Continuous Improvement €€€€€• Monitoring external changes that will impact the company.

intrinsic value; it is a necessity to pay to use it (Ott and Sachs 2000). Carbon offsetting is a program that runs parallel to the CETS (Suzuki 2009). As part of this program, companies can initiate projects outside of their own capped area, to reduce GHG emissions. They can also fund ongoing renewable energy projects such as specific wind farms, hydro projects, methane capture from landfills etc, or initiate their own. As a result, they are rewarded with credits, or money which they have to invest in environmental projects for their own company (Suzuki 2009). There has been a lot of argument against this (Gassen-Zade 2009; Ott & Sachs 2000), as it is basically allowing companies involved in the scheme, to emit as much as they want, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions somewhere else. There is also the argument that reducing emissions in one country is not equivalent to reducing them in another. This is due to different baseline emissions for different countries,

different atmospheric conditions, geographical locations and future emissions (Lohmann 2008). To adapt to regulatory requirements of the scheme, businesses involved must change company processes to become more environmentally friendly, especially with emissions rates. For maximum efficiency in this regard, companies must manage appropriate attributes at all levels from back office to top management (Staib, 2008). Creating an Environmental Strategy, and certifying it to the ISO 14001 standard is one method of achieving this goal. Implementing the changes of the Strategy and going beyond compliance and going beyond compliance can be beneficial to companies in the long run (Staib 2008). The components and benefits of the ISO14001 standard are described in the next section.

APPROACH TO HANDLING THOSE CHALLENGESBASED ON ISO 14001 The ISO 14001 standard comprises of five sections each with a different purpose, as outlined in table 2 Initial costs are high to implement the processes required for accreditation to the standard, costing between $10,000 and $100,000 (Daily & Huang 2001.), however in the long run it will increase resource efficiency, in turn reducing environmental damage and saving costs. The ISO 14001 can be modified to specific company needs. Therefore, if a company is in need of reducing carbon emissions then it is possible to take advantage of this standard to achieve these goals. An EMS accredited to ISO 14001 would enable a company to run audits and other monitoring tools of carbon emission rates. Reducing these rates can be achieved by using tools relevant to the industry. Figure 2 shows the continual improvement cycle that the ISO 14001 standard asserts itself on and that a company must follow, in relation to

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Figure 2. Continual improvement cycle

their processes in order for the implementation of an EMS to be effective and successful. Attributes like communication within the company as well as with external bodies will improve. Employee knowledge and innovation will also increase through training programs and recognition of efficient practices in the industry (Staib 2008) The monitoring mechanism of the standard also ensures emission rates are documented accurately, and are improved upon continuously. For optimum efficiency, a company must not only become accredited with the standard, but fully comply with it.

USE OF SOFTWARE RELATED TO CPRS Software Programs have been developed since the 1960’s for various environmental reasons. Computer models have been used to simulate future climatic conditions, since the threat of Global warming became more of a reality. Scientific papers such as the one the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases every 4 years base a lot of their information on these models. The models work by using set formulas to calculate the necessary atmospheric, hydrological, and biosphere parameters, depending on what the model is attempting to achieve. The first of these models was created in the late 1960’s in New Jersey (NOAA 2008). The model’s aim was to understand the atmosphere-ocean dynamics as a coupled system, and

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how changes in these properties; such as ocean and air currents and temperature, would lead to climate change (NOAA 2008). The model was a breakthrough for using mathematical IT models to predict and study climate change. One of the main components of the CPRS is to monitor emissions from business activities. This has opened a new market of software, which enables company to monitor their greenhouse gas emissions from daily activities. Currently, Predictive Emissions Monitoring Systems are being used across businesses in Europe to monitor carbon emissions, in order to ensure they are complying with the CPRS implemented there in 2005 (Orbit 2009). PEMS were first introduced in the 1970’s during the environmental movement, however were unpopular for use because of price. These systems involve software which enables a company to continuously monitor, and predict specific greenhouse gases, depending on the industry. For example, PEMS which are designed for off shore oil rigs will specifically monitor NOx, SO2 and CO2 emissions from gas turbines (Orbit 2009). Currently, there are three types of PEMS systems available; First Principles, Neural Networks and Statistical Hybrid Methods (Orbit 2009). The most effective type for CPRS is Neural Networks. First Principle PEMS’s; although somewhat effective are still very basic, and Statistical Hybrid Models can be quite expensive as they are custom made models for specific needs. Neural network Models can handle complex input/output relationships, and are developed in attempt to mimic the human brain (Vanmali 2008). As a result of being able to represent both linear and non linear relationships, the model can learn by itself through the data that is entered. Before PEMS were used, Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) were in use for observing greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike PEMS, CEMS involved hardware equipment to monitor emissions from combustion related industrial sites (Orbit, 2009). This form of monitoring

Standards and Legislation for the Carbon Economy

began in Germany in the early 1960’s and became a federal regulation in the 1970’s across several European nations and North America (Orbit 2009). A CEMS involved analysing hardware, opacity and temperature monitors and gas sampling systems all connected to a software program to display the information. The most common system used is an extractive system where gas is withdrawn continuously from where it is being initiated, filtered and analysed. The data obtained from the system would be then used for reporting, research and proof of regulatory compliance (Orbit 2009). PEMS have become the more favourable emissions monitoring systems over CEMS for related industries. CEMS are effective as they continuously give emissions readings in real time. They are therefore very accurate and useful. In the past, CEMS were more reliable and accurate, however as technology has progressed, the accuracy and quality of PEMS began matching CEMS. The primary factor which has made PEMS more popular is price. A study by SmartCEM (2006) - an emissions monitoring systems developer found the average cost of a PEMS per year is between US$72,000 to US $180,000, while the cost of CEMS per year is between US$165,000 and US$230,000. This is mainly because of the additional hardware required, and also the installation costs in a CEMS. The allocations of emission permits and the functionality of the trading market are two fundamental aspects of the emissions trading scheme. To simplify these and to ensure records of trades can be stored, the concept of online trading has been developed. The European Trading Scheme has adopted such an approach with online trading software being implemented across industries in 2005 at the commencement of the scheme (Riss 2005). The benefits of using online trading software include trading efficiency, risk management, inventory and data storage management and management of infrastructure. In Europe, ap-

proximately 14,000 entities have online trading software installed which accounts for almost 40% of parties involved in the European scheme (Riss, 2005). The most common software model used in regards to online trading is the straight-throughprocessing system (STP). The system is effective as it is used throughout the organisation at all levels with documentation at lower levels to risk management at middle and op level management. The problem with this is a restructure is often required with the installation of software, in order to take full advantage of the system.

KYOTO VS. COPENHAGEN The Kyoto Protocol was set up with the general goal of managing Climate Change. The international agreement was set on the 11th of December 1997, since when 194 parties have ratified the protocol (UNFCCC 2009a). The purpose of establishing the protocol was to reduce the emission of the 6 main greenhouses gases contributing to climate change; carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride (UNFCCC 2009a). The establishment of the protocol took place in Kyoto Japan. As a result of the Protocol initiative and as well as the proposals for programs such as the Clean Development Mechanism being outcomes of the negotiations, it was claimed to be a successful summit, relative to the previous 3 attempts. Nations committed to the international treaty are Countries that are part of the protocol are split into different groups based on their reduction commitments. The first group is Annex I, which include completely developed countries (UNFCCC 2009b). Countries in Annex I are either part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), or the Economies in Transition (EIT) (UNFCCC 2009b). The OECD includes developed countries which currently have sustainable economic growth, democracy, a high

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standard of living, and contributions to the growth in world trade. Such countries include Japan, Canada, England and Australia (OECD 2009). The EIT group includes 14 developed countries which are currently undergoing economic changes to reach a market economy (Gassen-Zade 2009). These countries are located in Eastern Europe including Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Ukraine. Annex II parties are the countries that belong to the OECD (UNFCCC 2009b). Under the Kyoto Protocol and regulations set by the UNFCCC, these countries have to financially assist developing nations to establish emission friendly programs. Countries part of the Annex II must also promote environmentally friendly practices and techniques in countries part of the EIT (UNFCCC 2009b). Non-Annex parties consist of 49 developing countries, especially those that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and heavily relying on fossil fuels. It’s these nations that require financial assistance from OECD parties (UNFCCC 2009b). Annex B parties are nations which have set commitments or targets under the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC 2009b). The countries that are part of this group include all countries in Annex 1, except for Turkey and Belarus. It is clear from this method of categorisation, that rather than creating groups based on current emission levels, which is the prime purpose of the protocol, they are based on the current economic and social state of the countries. One of the most important features of the Kyoto Protocol is the allocation of targets. All targets are set towards nations, to lower their industrial emissions. As mentioned before, countries are allocated into Annex’s or groups, depending on their economic and social states. If allocations are based on economic states, then the top 100 economies in the world must be considered. In 2002, 51 of the top 100 economies of the world were companies, while the other 49 were countries (Anderson & Cavanagh 2002). There were

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more companies in the top economies than there were nations. Exxon Mobil, Shell and British Petroleum are the three largest oil companies in the world. In the top 100 economies list, they are placed 26th, 43rd and 56th respectively. Below them on the list are countries like New Zealand, Malaysia, and the Czech Republic who all have targets set under the protocol (Anderson & Cavanagh 2002). Looking at these 3 companies from an environmental perspective; Exxon Mobil emissions in one year equate to 80% of Africa’s emissions. Shell emits more in a year than Australia, Brazil, France, Canada or Spain does in the same time frame, and British Petroleum emits more than its home region of Britain in one year (Ott & Sachs 2000). The problem here is who should be receiving targets. In the carbon trading scheme, there has been much argument whether energy companies and the agricultural sector should be included in the scheme (ABC Rural News, 2009). This is because both these industries provide resources required for survival. The same can be argued with these large oil companies, since they are a major contributor to the problem, and are on the same economic level as most nations, they too should be considered for target allocations. If both sides of the argument are considered, with their contribution to the problem with the necessity for their products weighed up against each other, then the question of giving them priority is very difficult to consider. We still live in a society dominated by fossil fuels as a source of energy, so these companies are still required for survival. However if they remain, and no penalty is imposed in the near future, their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions could also potential impact human health and survival in the long run. The value underlying both arguments is human survival. The second problem with the allocations in the Kyoto Protocol is there is a difference in

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equality, between developed and undeveloped countries. The way emissions have been allocated have been said to adopt the ‘grandfathering rule’ (Ott & Sachs 2000), where the allocations have been based on past emissions. There is no doubt that industrialised countries have released the most amounts of emissions in the past (Heil & Woden 1999). These countries (part of Annex 1) are therefore given priority in allocations. In this way, it has been a ‘first in first served’ scenario. Developing countries have recently begun emitting more greenhouse gases at faster rates (Heil & Woden 1999). Under the protocol they are required to implement programs with financial assistance from Annex 1 countries, which has been largely argued against by Indian and Chinese officials, as they believe they should be allowed to develop at the same rate Annex 1 parties did (Ott & Sachs 2000). The underlying value for this problem is the sense of equality. An egalitarian approach has been suggested by government officials, as well as conservationists in developing nations (Ott & Sachs 2000). This would involve setting one per capita target for all nations, in regards to emitting greenhouse gases. While this approach has been accepted by some (Heil & Wodon 1999; Farina & Savaglio 2006), there are some aspects stopping it. Firstly, the social state of each country has to be considered. One hundred tonnes of methane is emitted from rice fields in Philippines, does not ethically match one hundred tonnes emitted from four-wheeldrives in America. The social inequality therefore counteracts the possibility of an egalitarian approach. There is also the fact that industrialised countries will continue using fossil fuels as their main source of energy for the short to medium term future (Ott & Sachs 2000). The approach may be efficient in the distant future; however greenhouse gas emissions concentrations need to be reduced as soon as possible. Overall, the positive note is that action has been taken on an international scale to manage

both the impacts of humans on the environment and vice versa. The most recent global environmental discussions and negotiations held in Copenhagen however were deemed by many to be a failure. The Summit took place between the 7th and 19th of December, where \debate over management of global warming took place between 115 world leaders, plus another 40,000 members of government and non government organisations, and other agencies (IISD Reporting Services 2009). The problem with the discussions was the extremely different interests each nation had, leading to unsolvable negotiations. The parties at the international conference had different points to raise and goals to achieve. Table 3 shows the UNFCCC drafting groups, and their main points of discussion at the conference Of course, individual nations from each group had different targets and views of their own. For example, Annex 1 parties, which were scattered among the Umbrella Group, G-77, and European Union Drafting Groups did not all agree that Annex 1 parties should take the lead. Australia for example suggested changes should be equal in both developed and undeveloped countries, while the rest of the Umbrella group disagreed with this point. One of the major results from the Copenhagen summit was the establishment of the Copenhagen Accord. This is not a legally binding agreement, however its main feature was to agree and continue with the legislation drafted in the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC 2009c). It emphasised the importance of the necessity for strong political will to mitigate and adapt to climate change. It included a requirement for developed nations to increase their targets further by January 31st, 2010, and that vulnerability should be reduced in developing nations (UNFCCC 2009c). The Accord also initiated a Copenhagen Climate green Fund, in order to raise $100 billion per year by 2020 to help all nations reduce emissions.

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Table 3. Results from Copenhagen Summit by nation Drafting Group

Views

Group-77 and China

€€€€€• Developed nations need to take the lead in commitments against Climate Change €€€€€• Negotiations for Capacity Building for Developing Nations and the EIT group should be separate to Climate Change Discussions. €€€€€• Definite targets need to be specified, with Annex 1 Parties needing to drastically change their targets, in order to be effective at all in reducing greenhouse gas emissions; however this change needs to take place overtime, as the technicalities of some negotiations still need to be adjusted to. €€€€€• Annex 1 Parties need to make the most changes €€€€€• Ensuring temperatures do not rise by more than 2.0°C than pre industrial times. €€€€€• Supported working in smaller groups called ‘friends of chair’ (rather than drafting groups) to establish ideas, and then report back at a later date during the summit to commence negotiations. €€€€€• Negotiations should be halted until an agreement is reached regarding targets for Annex 1 Parties beyond 2012.

Alliance of Small Island States

€€€€€• International agreement required by the end of the summit on immediate action required to assist the most vulnerable nations to the effects of Climate Change. This includes financing, capacity building, and the appropriate technology. €€€€€• The second commitment period set in the Kyoto Protocol should be focussed on strengthening already established legislation, organisations and commitments, rather than continuously creating new standards. €€€€€• Ensure temperatures do not rise by more than 1.5°C than pre industrial times. €€€€€• Developed countries should be required to respond to Climate Change in relation to their science and technology, which is a greater level than developing countries. €€€€€• Emissions must reach their peak by 2015. €€€€€• Annex 1 Parties need to make the most changes

Least Developed Countries

€€€€€• Financial and Technological limitations must be considered. €€€€€• Supported working in ‘friends of chair’ groups, except Bangladesh which wanted to continue using Draft Groups. €€€€€• Supported the Copenhagen Accord to some extent. The group thought that it should continue to be developed in the future rather than settling with what is created during the summit. €€€€€• Small projects should not have to be implemented in developing nations, but rather large scale, effective projects. €€€€€• Ensuring temperatures do not rise by more than 1.5°C than pre industrial times. €€€€€• Did not support market approaches

European Union

€€€€€• ‘Fast financing’- Large amount of money required straight away for assistance for adaptation and mitigation to climate change for all nations €€€€€• New legislation resulting from the summit should be in effect by early 2010-02-02

Umbrella Group

€€€€€• Copenhagen accord should finance US$10 billion for developing countries to assist in the fight against climate change. ‘Fast financing’ for these developing countries €€€€€• Ensuring temperatures do not rise by more than 2.0°C than pre industrial times €€€€€• 50% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 €€€€€• New legislation for Flexibility with land use and changes, including forestry and agriculture requested. However this was denied. €€€€€• Large funding required for undeveloped countries, with the potential of US $120 being use immediately from various sources. €€€€€• Supported market approaches.

Environmental Integrity Group

€€€€€• Annex 1 Parties should take the lead to achieve the goal of keeping temperatures below 2.0°C of preindustrial times. €€€€€• Supported Market approaches

African Group

€€€€€• Negotiations should be halted until an agreement is reached regarding targets for Annex 1 Parties beyond 2012 €€€€€• Negotiations so far had been slow and ineffective for African nations where drought and disease will only worsen with the impacts of climate change. €€€€€• Market approaches were unnecessary. €€€€€• Supported the Copenhagen Accord €€€€€• Change needs to take place overtime, as the technicalities of some negotiations still need to be adjusted to. €€€€€• US $10 billion required for African nations between 2010 and 2012 to initiate changes for adaptation and mitigation €€€€€• Negotiations should be halted until an agreement is reached regarding targets for Annex 1 Parties beyond 2012.

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Although these were strong goals set, the problem with the accord was that it was not legally binding, and only five nations- Brazil, China, India, South Africa and U.S.A agreed upon it (UNFCCC 2009c). By comparing what was achieved directly through the Protocols, The Kyoto Protocol was more successful, in that it assigned carbon emission targets and developed methods to achieve these targets. The Kyoto conference was also the first international environmental conference after public awareness about climate change had escalated. It therefore had more attention drawn to it than previous conferences. The expectation for an outcome from the Copenhagen Summit was high, and therefore the final results were seen to be a failure. As more scientific knowledge is gained about Climate Change, nations will continue to have different opinions on how to adapt to, and mitigate the impact of climate change.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS There has been so far a large amount of Political Influence on the Implementing a Carbon Trading Scheme. This has taken away the focus of achieving the goal of lowering emissions, reaching the Kyoto Protocol target and cleaning the environment. Whether the scheme will be effective in achieving the goal of reducing carbon emissions remains to be seen. Since its implementation in 2005, The European Union Trading Scheme (EUTS) has been seen as only moderately successful in regards to its use of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Apart from this, with relevance to greenhouse gas emissions, the desired outceome has been far from achieved (Skjærseth & Wettestad, 2008). Whether the smaller scale Australian edition will be more successful; can only be seen once it is implemented, and running for a duration long enough to audit and compare.

Renewable energy is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world (Schmidt, & Marschinski 2009). Nations in Western Europe have implemented numerous wind farms, and solar energy projects to co-exist with their trading scheme. Australia should look to do the same as they have a very high potential for energy generation from wind farms, solar energy and geosequestration. The next International summit is in Mexico City in December 2010, where negotiations will continue from Copenhagen, hopefully setting definite targets and programs to minimise the impacts of Climate Change. With Canada, Japan and New Zealand also initiating a CPRS within the next 3 years, monitoring software and the methods of carbon trading will continue to develop, especially in Japan (Skjærseth & Wettestad, 2008). This will provide a broad market for technology related to CPRS, with advancements to neural networks (Vanmali 2002).

CONCLUSION Businesses in Australia should be able to adapt to the scheme in a moderately easy manner with the substantial amount of free permits handed out by the Federal Government. Add to this the emerging availability of monitoring software and other technological products that will ease the trading and reporting components of the scheme. However, awareness should be raised about the scheme for businesses to develop a complete understanding, and the required internal changes that need to be implemented. The methods available for businesses to adapt to the scheme should also be marketed in a way in which they can feel comfortable in what they are implementing, and develop a complete understanding of the market and its implications. Creating an ISO 14001 accredited Environmental Management Strategy is also a powerful tool to adapt to the legislative changes from the

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scheme. It provides businesses opportunity to lower emission rates, save money in the long term, be environmentally friendly, which all leads to a competitive advantage in a carbon economy. For this to be achieved however, the company must continue to improve its processes according to its EMS, and go beyond just complying with legislation. The two major international environmental summits- Kyoto and Copenhagen were vastly different in their outcomes, with Kyoto creating initiative by setting targets, and programs to reach these targets. Copenhagen on the other hand could be considered as part of the ongoing negotiations taking place regarding what actions are required to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Although logistics would prove difficult, it may be worth creating an international protocol applicable to large international corporations, especially those primary industries which possess an economy as large as countries, and emit as much or potentially more greenhouse gases, such as Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum and Shell. The CPRS is a good first step towards adaptation and action; however it should only be used as a short term plan until alternative energy sources are widely available. As we live in a capitalist society, economic growth is essential, and therefore the scheme fits in well with continuous trading, and balancing supply and demand for emission credits. However from an environmental perspective, it cannot be considered a solution to the problem, but rather a stepping stone.

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Anderson, S., & Cavanagh, J. (2002). Of the world’s largest economic entities, 51 are now companies and 49 are countries. Organisations. Retrieved November 1st 2009, http://www.corporations.org/system/top100.html Boyd, E., & Mansfield, M. (2008). Commodifying Carbon: The Ethics of Markets in Nature, Environmental Change Institute. Retrieved: October 30th, 2009, http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/publications/ downloads/commodifycarb-report.pdf Coorey, P. (2009). Senate kills emissions trading scheme bills. Sydney Morning Herald (August 13th). Retrieved November 21st, 2009, http:// www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/ senate-kills-emissions-trading-scheme-bills20090813-eiyc.html Daily, B. F., & Huang, S. (2001). Achieving Sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 21(12), 1539–1552. doi:10.1108/01443570110410892 Department of Climate Change. (2008). ‘Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Canberra: DECC. Department of the Environment. Climate Change and Water (2008), What is Emissions Trading DECCW, Sydney, NSW. Edgecliff, K. (2009), Top 200 firms face $2.8b carbon bill, AFM Advisors. Retrieved November 11 2009, http://www.afmadvisers.com/?page=sow. php&sq=YT1kYSZjaWQ9NzIzJmFpZD0xNjY xMCZoPSZjcmM9LTgzMzk5NzU1 Farina, F., & Savaglio, E. (2006). Inequality and economic Integration. New York: Routledge. Gassen-Zade, O. (2009), Economies in Transition: At the Crossroads of Development, Climate Change Knowledge Network. Retrieved November 4th, 2009, http://www.cckn.net/compendium/ economies.asp

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Grubel, N. (2009). FACTBOX-Timeline for Australia’s carbon trade laws, Reuters. Retrieved October 31st, 2009, http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP333343 Gunasekera, D., & Cornwell, A. (1998, February), Economic Issues in Emissions Trading. Paper presented to the Kyoto Impact on Australia Conference, Melbourne Australia. Hasan, A., & Funston, L. (2008). The Introduction of Australia’s Emissions Trading Scheme: Level of understanding amongst CEOs/senior executives. Australian Institute of Management. Melbourne, Victoria: Vic/Tas. Heil, M. T., & Wodon, Q. T. (1999). Future inequality in Carbon Dioxide Emissions and the Projected Impact of Abatement Proposals. World Bank Policy Research Paper, no. 2084. IISD Reporting Services. (2009) Summary of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Retrieved January 2nd, 2010, http://www.iisd.ca/ vol12/enb12459e.html Keane, B. (2009). Coalition CPRS plan will cost $20 billion, Crikey. Retrieved November 7th, 2009, http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/10/19/coalitioncprs-plan-will-cost-20billion/ Kelly, R. (2007). Companies unprepared for climate change, Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved November 2nd, 2009, http://news.smh.com.au/ business/companies-unprepared-for-climatechange-20071115-1ag4.html

NSW Farmers Association. (2009). CPRS Legislation. Retrieved December 26th, 2010, http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:MOfvREoO6gJ:www.nswfarmers.org.au/__data/ assets/pdf_file/0007/59308/Briefing_Note-Summary_of_CPRS_legislation_1109.pdf+cprs+legi slation&hl=en&gl=au&sig=AHIEtbTE5JMszW tKKJl5gzIKlZhZlrikag Orbit (2009). Predictive Emissions Monitoring. Orbit, 29(1), 53-54. Ott, H., & Sachs, W. (2000). Ethical Aspects on Emissions Trading, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Technology, Contribution to the World Council of Churches on “Equity and Emission Trading- Ethical and Theological Dimensions”, Saskatoon, Canada, May 9-14, 2000. Pinguelli-Rosa, L., & Munasinghe, M. (2002). Ethics, Equity and International Negotiations on Climate Change. Boston, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Raupach, M. (2007). CO2 emissions increasing faster than expected’, CSIRO. Retrieved November 30, 2009, http://www.csiro.au/news/ GlobalCarbonProject-PNAS.html (2008). RepuTex. Sydney, Australia: The Hidden Cost of Carbon Risk of Australian Companies. Riss, J. (2005). Software Solutions Revolutionise Emissions Trading (pp. 1–2). Commodities Now.

Lohmann, L. (2008). Six Arguments against Carbon Trading. Climate and Capitalism. Retrieved November 10th, 2009, http://climateandcapitalism. com/?p=544

Roarty, M. (2002). The Kyoto Protocol—Issues and Developments through to Conference of the Parties (COP7), Parliament of Australia, Parliament Library Retrieved October 30, 2009, http:// www.aph.gov.au/library/INTGUIDE/SCI/kyoto. htm (Accessed 30/10/09).

NOAA. (2008). The First Climate Model. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Retrieved January 15th, 2010, http://celebrating200years. noaa.gov/welcome.html

Robb, A. (2009). Rudd’s CO2 emissions scheme: A source of massive risk and uncertainty, Liberals. Retrieved November 11th, 2009, http://www. liberal.org.au/news.php?Id=3042

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SBS World News. (2009). “Show me the facts on ETS amendments”: Rudd, Retrieved November 11th, 2009, http://www.sbs.com.au/news/ article/1113846/Show-me-the-facts-on-ETSamendments:-Rudd Schmidt, R. C., & Marschinski, R. (2009). A Model of technological breakthrough in the renewable energy sector. Ecological Economics, 69(2), 435–444. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.08.023 Skjærseth, J. B., & Wettestad, J. (2008). Implementing EU emissions trading: success or failure? International Environmental Agreement: Politics, Law and Economics, 8(3), 275–290. doi:10.1007/ s10784-008-9068-4 Smart, C. E. M. (2006). Comparison of Costs CMC Solutions SmartCEM. Retrieved January 16 th, 2010, http://74.125.153.132/ search?q=cache:fvwqTIvWgrcJ:www.mcilvainecompany.com/NOx_Decision_Tree/ subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/ David%2520Haehnle-%2520CMC%2520Solut ions%252010%2520am.pdf%3Fcontact%2Bna me%3D+initial+costs+cems+vs+pems+smartce m+STATISTACL+HYBRID&cd=3&hl=en&ct =clnk&gl=au Staib, R. (2005). Environmental Management and Decision Making for Business, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Suzuki, D. (2009). What is a carbon offset? David Suzuki Foundation, Retrieved November 2nd, 2009, http://www.davidsuzuki.org/climate_change/ what_you_can_do/carbon_offsets.asp United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change. (2009a), Kyoto Protocol. Retrieved October 28th, 2009, http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change. (2009b). Parties and Observers, Retrieved October 28th, 2009, http://unfccc.int/ parties_and_observers/items/2704.php United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change. (2009c). Framework Convention on Climate Change. Retrieved January 11th, 2010, http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/cop15/eng/ l07.pdf United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2008). Kyoto Protocol. Retrieved October 30, 2009, http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php Vanmali, M., Last, M., & Kandel, K. (2008). Using a neural network in the software testing process. International Journal of Intelligent Systems, 17(1), 45–62. doi:10.1002/int.1002

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Chapter 44

Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Marco Garito Viale Fulvio Testi, Italy

ABSTRACT The debate over green ICT has been triggered by media during the climate change summit in Kyoto in 2007. This was when the industry tried to build up a clean and non-polluting image. While the Copenhagen summit on the environment failed to produce a conclusive decision, it is now clear that its carbon footprint is a remarkable factor in all business decision making. Governments around the world have set up defined programs and targets that companies have to reach. ICT is aimed at achieving reduction in the 2% of CO2 emission levels. The advantage of the positive impact of Green ICT initiatives would be seen in the clear results in management’s decision making. However, the adoption of green ICT programs gives the opportunity to fully rethink over current business process and develop new solutions. The benefit of environmental friendly companies can also affect the overall performance and deliver measurable results in terms of customer’s preference, brand value, ROI, not to count the needed change of behaviour at individual and personal level (such as waste disposal). The chapter wants to outline those topics and properly address the issues behind what the author considers as equivalent to the next industrial revolution.

INTRODUCTION The ICT industry has a very significant role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, especially in rapidly developing countries. Future development in the newly developing industries should DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch044

not follow the reckless path taken by developed countries. Many industries can make use of modern ICT technology to move into higher efficiency low carbon markets. This can include use of ICT technology to move away from existing energyintensive work habits and lifestyles supported by government policy innovations, incentives for companies and the active participation of consum-

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Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

ers. These initiatives are urgent as the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere is happening faster than originally predicted. Scientists, economists and policy makers are calling for emissions targets of at least 20% below 1990 levels in 2020 (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008). The work by climate group as well as the aforementioned Gartner report has identified many opportunities for the ICT industry, to replace goods and services with virtual equivalents and to provide technology to enable energy efficiency including: •

•

•

•

•

Develop an agreed ICT industry-wide methodology for the carbon foot-printing of ICT products and services Put more emphasis on climate change issues in our supply chain work so we influence the end-to-end manufacturing process for electronic equipment Ensure that energy and climate change matters are fully considered by the organisations that set the technical standards for our industry (A.T. Kearney 2008; ACS 2007; Bouwer 2006) Work with organisations in the key opportunity areas – travel/transport, buildings, grids and industry systems – to help turn potential CO2 reductions into reality. This will include a strong emphasis on the significant opportunities offered by de-materialisation (A.T. Kearney 2008; ACS 2007; Bouwer 2006) Work with public policy makers to ensure that the right regulatory and fiscal frameworks are in place to move us all in the right direction (EICTA 2008; EU Commission 2002; Experton 2007.1/2; Experton 2008)

The ICT sector has both a profitable opportunity and a critical role to play with other sectors to design and deploy solutions needed to create a low carbon society (EICTA 2008; EU Commission 2002; Experton 2007.1/2; Experton 2008).

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The scale of emissions reductions that could be enabled by the smart integration of ICT into new ways of operating, living, working, learning and travelling makes the sector a key player in the fight against climate change, despite its own growing carbon footprint. However, this ICT potential also comes with corresponding responsibility. Emissions reductions in other sectors will not simply present themselves; the ICT sector must demonstrate leadership on climate change and governments must provide the optimum regulatory context. These actions can be summarised as the SMART transformation (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008). The challenge of climate change presents an opportunity for ICT to first standardise (S) how energy consumption and emissions information can be traced across different processes. It can monitor (M) energy consumption and emissions across the economy in real time, providing the data needed to optimise for energy efficiency. Network tools can be developed that allow accountability (A) for energy consumption and emissions alongside other key business priorities. This information can be used to rethink (R) how we should live, learn, play and work in a low carbon economy, initially by optimising efficiency, but also by providing viable low cost alternatives to high carbon activities. It is through this enabling platform that transformation (T) of the economy will occur, when standardisation, monitoring, accounting, optimisation and the business models that drive low carbon alternatives can be developed and diffused at scale across all sectors of the economy (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008).

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR): A DEFINITION Corporate social responsibility (CSR), also known as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship,

Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

responsible business, sustainable responsible business (SRB), or corporate social performance is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. Ideally, CSR policy would function as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism, whereby business would monitor and ensure its adherence to law, ethical standards, and international norms. Business would embrace responsibility for the impact of their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere. Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making, and the triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit. The scale and nature of the benefits of CSR for an organization can vary depending on the nature of the enterprise, and are difficult to quantify, though there is a large body of literature exhorting business to adopt measures beyond financial ones.

MARKET SEGMENTS This section describes the segments and the business situations where Green ICT plays a role: a combination of current status and foreseeable environment is provided to give a sense of possible roll out and developments (Hauschild 1998; IBM 2004/2007/2008; Gartner 2008; iStart 2008)

PCs and Peripherals In the developed world today, PCs (workstations, desktops and laptops) are almost as ubiquitous in people’s homes as televisions. The number of PCs globally is expected to increase from 592 million in 2002 to more than four billion in 2020. However, two major technology developments are expected by 2020. First, the desktop PCs that dominate today’s market (84%) will be largely replaced by laptops if adoption materialises as forecasted – by 2020, 74% of all PCs in use will be laptops. Second, all cathode ray tube (CRT) screens will be replaced by low energy alternatives, such as liquid crystal

display (LCD) screens, by 2020. Other areas of research such as quantum and optical computing could also have a substantial impact (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008; IBM 2007/2008; IDC 2007).

Data Centres In the “information age” there is a vast amount of data that is stored and instantly made available upon request (Hauschild 1998; IBM 2004/2007/2008; Gartner 2008; iStart 2008). Users of these data range from companies complying with the recent Sarbanes–Oxley accounting data legislation to consumers watching YouTube videos, to the processing and storage capabilities required for climate change modelling. The world will be using 122 million servers in 2020, up from 18 million today. In addition to this 9% pa increase in server numbers, there will be a shift from high-end servers (mainframes) to volume servers (Hauschild 1998; IBM 2004/2007/2008; Gartner 2008; iStart 2008). A major trend driving down the overall growth in the footprint of data centres is virtualisation (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008; IBM 2007/2008; IDC 2007). It represents a radical rethinking of how to deliver the services of data centres, pooling resources that are underutilised. There are a number of ways to reduce this energy overhead, some of which are expected to be adopted by 2020. The simplest way is to turn down the air conditioning. Higher adoption rates of virtualisation architectures and low energy cooling would help achieve step changes in efficiency. Although the cost of energy is high, companies are not often organised so that the person paying for the IT equipment is also paying for the energy consumption of that equipment. However there is a significant consolidation trend that may help in dealing with the existing or legacy data centre impact. Also, organisational attitudes are changing as costs of operating a data centre surpass the initial investment in equipment and as

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the data centre operation becomes a larger share of a company’s overall energy costs. Companies now have a number of options for computing services, which shift costs from the enterprise to an external provider that can potentially deliver these capabilities with economies of scale and at higher energy efficiency (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008; IBM 2007/2008; IDC 2007). The “software as a service” business model allows companies to access key enterprise applications such as customer relationship management databases or collaboration tools via a web browser, with no need to host their own data centre facilities. Companies can also pay to use server space on demand to build their own applications and websites, the way one would pay monthly for electricity or water, known as “utility computing”, IT management often does not feel the pain of rising energy costs—the bills are paid by facilities managers (McKinsey 2008; Nordin 2008; OECD 2009; The climate Group 2008). Increased energy efficiency can not only help reduce a company’s current energy costs but can also make energy previously used by the physical infrastructure available to power new server, storage and communications equipment as it becomes needed to support business growth (McKinsey 2008; Nordin 2008; OECD 2009; The climate Group 2008). Energy efficiency therefore gives the CIO more flexibility in increasing IT capacity within current facilities to support the company’s business growth. Start by finding out the truth about energy consumption in the data center—and whether allocated costs really match usage: with data turned into information then turned into insight, Finance moves beyond ‘tail-lights’—historical reporting—to a keener sense of ‘headlights’ with which to illuminate the future direction of the enterprise. As truth owner, the CFO can help shape operational decisions and strategic directions. In recent interviews with 1,000 global senior business and IT managers, Enterprise Strategy Group found that nearly half said professional services

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to assess, design and implement technologies to support green initiatives were most important in selecting IT vendors (McKinsey 2008; Nordin 2008; OECD 2009; The climate Group 2008). According to Gartner, “Traditionally, the power required for non-IT equipment in the data center (such as that for cooling, fans, pumps and UPS systems) represented on average about 60% of total annual energy consumption; 36 percent of respondents indicated that their organizations’ newest data centers are seven or more years old. As a result, the older data centers may not be able to power and cool the newer IT equipment in an energy-efficient manner. The deployment of such a solution, can reduce maintenance costs; increase security; deploy full PC desktops on centralised servers; set up workgroups and entire department quickly; reduce energy requirements of running desktop environments.

Telecoms Infrastructure and Devices Increased mobile phone and internet use over the past few years has driven a parallel increase in telecoms infrastructure (McKinsey 2008; Nordin 2008; OECD 2009; The climate Group 2008). Fixed-line, narrowband and voice accounts are expected to remain fairly constant overall, but the number of broadband accounts – operated by both telecoms and cable operators37 – will more than double 2007-2020 and mobile accounts38 will almost double during the same period (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008; IBM 2007/2008; IDC 2007)

Telecoms Devices The use of mobile phones, chargers, internet protocol TV (IPTV) boxes and home broadband routers is set to increase over the next 12 years, due in the most part to growth in China and India, where the middle classes will catch up with the current telecoms penetration of developed countries. The majority of emissions from mobile devices

Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

come from standby mode, the power (sometimes known as phantom power) used by chargers that are plugged in but not in use (McKinsey 2008; Nordin 2008; OECD 2009; The climate Group 2008). The footprint of telecoms devices can be reduced further if devices produce fewer emissions in manufacturing, or if less – and greener –electricity is used by the device during its lifetime. Attractive offers that allow service upgrades without trading the phone in are already increasing the life of the mobile device itself. Some companies have announced that they will experiment with more custom ordering of phones, so that only the requested features are built into the physical device, lowering the carbon emissions that are due to manufacturing.

communications server is combined onto existing servers using virtualisation technology, then the power consumption of the entire phone system can be effectively reduced to zero.

Telecoms Infrastructure

Dematerialisation

As the demand for telecoms devices grows so, inevitably, will the need for the infrastructure that supports it (McKinsey 2008; Nordin 2008; OECD 2009; The climate Group 2008). This growth is due not only to increases in the number of broadband and mobile accounts in emerging economies, but is also to the sharing of videos and games and other peer-to-peer content exchange.

Dematerialisation – the substitution of high carbon products and activities with low carbon alternatives e.g. replacing face-to-face meetings with videoconferencing, or paper with e-billing – could play a substantial role in reducing emissions; there is some uncertainty about the exact emissions reduction figure because of the unpredictability of technology adoption and development (Hendrik, Volk 2008; Socitim Consulting 2007). For instance, the “paperless” office has failed to materialise and telecommuting and first generation videoconferencing have not been adopted as widely as expected. On the other hand, dematerialisation could have a larger than predicted impact from other future technological breakthroughs, not yet identified, that substantially change the way people live and work. Like e-commerce, egovernment could have a significant impact on reducing GHG emissions through the dematerialisation of public service delivery – particularly in countries where government constitutes a large share of the overall economy. For example, many paper-based services can be moved into the digital environment and situations where face-to-face interaction has been previously required (e.g. to

Integrated Telephony Innovation in IP based telephony solutions is going to present opportunities to replace traditional telephone equipment that will generate savings in power usage and call costs. It is important to note however that replacement of PBX or KTS equipment with VoIP can actually increase power consumption because stand alone IP phones draw between 5 to 7W of power whereas traditional digital or analogue handsets use only 1 to 2W when in use (Hendrik, Volk 2008; Socitim Consulting 2007). The major opportunity for reductions through the use of IP telephony is when the stand alone handset is replaced by a soft phone client on the computer workstation. Indeed, if the

Green Power Generation The direct carbon footprint of the ICT sector is dominated by electricity consumption, so an obvious way to reduce emissions is to use as much electricity as possible from renewable sources (Hendrik, Volk 2008; Socitim Consulting 2007). ICT companies can do this by purchasing renewable electricity, by installing renewable generation on their sites and by making renewable electricity integral to their products.

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prove identity) can be done virtually (Hendrik, Volk 2008; Socitim Consulting 2007). Dematerialisation can be applied to a range of current everyday practices and ultimately reduce the number of material objects that need to be produced. On-line billing, media and music, replacing paper and CDs all, reduce the emissions associated with their manufacture and distribution. Currently the largest opportunity identified within dematerialisation is teleworking. While dematerialisation undoubtedly has the potential to play a significant role in reducing emissions, it has had limited impact so far, mainly owing to low adoption rates. Many companies are still unwilling to adopt dematerialisation technology at higher rates because it requires adopting new ways of working with significant cultural shifts. In terms of the broader dematerialisation opportunities outside the workplace, the challenge comes from the current global infrastructure. It does not yet support high-quality and affordable internet service to all consumers and businesses, though there are significant regional variations: most households in Europe and North America are not equipped to receive high-quality digital services, whereas Asia Pacific and the rest of the emerging markets are leapfrogging old technologies and installing high-speed broadband as standard, which makes a shift towards a dematerialised way of life easier. With rapid IT growth, companies often are looking to consolidate data center operations to achieve space savings and other benefits such as increased manageability (Hendrik, Volk 2008; Socitim Consulting 2007). Building or upgrading a new data center provides the perfect opportunity to rationalize the data center strategy as a way for you to gain major capital and operational savings, including energy-efficiency savings. An example of that comes from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), which is seeking to become a truly integrated, self-regulating healthcare system using evidence-based medicine to produce superb clinical outcomes and lower costs. To support this 612

goal, UPMC has been undergoing an IT service transformation program.

Automated Power Control Power saving functions for equipment in offices are not always used by staff because of inconvenience in waiting for equipment to return to an operational state. Advanced control systems are now available to remotely ensure equipment is put into sleep function and then woken up to ensure it is available when required can minimise power usage and reduce emissions (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008; IBM 2007/2008; IDC 2007; ACS 2007).

Motor Systems Motor systems – devices that convert electricity into mechanical power – lie at the heart of global industrial activity. These include transformers such as those used in compressors and pumps and variable speed drives (VSD) used in conveyor belts and elevators (Hendrik, Volk 2008; Socitim Consulting 2007). ICT could play a significant role in mitigating global carbon emissions from motor systems and industrial process optimisation. Motors can be inefficient as they operate at full capacity, regardless of load. A motor is “smart” when it can be controlled to adjust its power usage to a required output, usually through a VSD and intelligent motor controller (IMC), a piece of hardware controlling the VSD. ICT’s main role in the short term, therefore, will be to monitor energy use and provide data to businesses so they can make energy and cost savings by changing manufacturing systems (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). These data may also be useful for organisations setting standards.

Logistics and Supply Chain Management Global goods transport is growing rapidly, as a result of globalisation and global economic growth.

Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The logistics of this vast operation (including packaging, transport, storage, consumer purchasing and waste) are inherently inefficient. ICT can improve the efficiency of logistics operations in a number of ways (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). These include software to improve the design of transport networks, allow the running of centralised distribution networks and run management systems that can facilitate flexible home delivery services. Analysing the process of managing the impact across the chain, companies need to take a comprehensive and holistic look at each of those activities for opportunities to improve them, to reduce their impact from an environmental perspective (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). In some cases that may mean product re-design. In other cases it may mean the introduction of new metrics and optimising around those across the entire value chain. Two key areas are information and efficiency. Each of these will play a key role in enabling companies to manage, execute and measure their green initiatives. Manual and disjointed processes that you often see in place in companies today are not going to be able to scale across enterprises and they also won’t be able to meet increasingly stringent compliance directives. So enterprise application software is going to have to play a role here (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). One of the key applications is transportation management. Transportation causes about a third of the world’s CO2 emissions so companies can leverage transportation management tools to optimise the routing of their transportation networks, to consolidate loads and reduce empty backhauls. They can also optimise based on transportation mode selection, where possible – for example rail and sea transport have a much lower environmental impact than road or air transport do. This helps reduce emissions and fuel consumption as well as costs. Another key application is product lifecycle management – in particular product governance and compliance. It’s critical to design products with the environment in

mind. Enterprise asset management is also getting increasing attention. Large machinery is extremely energy-intensive, and running machinery more optimally not only makes environmental sense but also financial sense. More and more companies are turning to more predictive, intelligence, sensor-based maintenance programmes rather than the traditional time interval maintenance programmes (iStart 2009).

Buildings The term ‘smart buildings’ describes a suite of technologies used to make the design, construction and operation of buildings more efficient, applicable to both existing and newly built properties. Energy consumption in buildings is driven by two factors – energy intensity and surface area. ICT-based monitoring, feedback and optimisation tools can be used to reduce both at every stage of a building’s life cycle, from design and construction to use and demolition (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). There are various smart buildings technologies available today that can help reduce emissions at each stage of a building’s life-cycle.

Grids Current centralised energy distribution networks are often huge, inefficient grids that lose power in transmission, require an overcapacity of generating capability to cope with unexpected surges in energy use and allow one-way communication only – from provider to customer. A “smart grid” is a set of software and hardware tools that enable generators to route power more efficiently, reducing the need for excess capacity and allowing two-way, real time information exchange with their customers for real time demand side management (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). ICT is integral to the range of technologies that comprise a smart grid. Some of these include smart meters, which allow consumers more information about how much

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energy they are using or allow automated reading of energy consumption data, helping the utility to better understand where energy is being used and more advanced grid management systems.

Waste Management Traditionally, there have been three main obstacles to effective, large-scale recycling in just about any industry. The first is simple resistance to change, a perception problem that goes away with enough education, environmental legislation and regulation and a critical mass of participation. The second is having a viable recovery and disposal network available for the material being handled. And the third is economics. This obstacle is more subtle, as the economics of recycling can become complex when downstream costs of disposal are weighed against the residual value of the asset or material being disposed. With those three points in mind, some actions, as listed below, can be taken.: Client leasing—With rapid advances in technology, and decreasing product life cycles driving a quicker technology refresh cycle, leasing makes more and more sense for many clients. Clients enjoy the benefits of technology without having to dispose of equipment at the end of its useful life (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). User-friendly disposal will manage the safe and environmentally friendly disposal of unwanted IT equipment from leasing clients (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). Economy of scale The economies of scale can be complemented by an on-line private trading exchange for used and refurbished equipment. The system assures that systems and components with residual value will find buyers (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008) Method of de-manufacturing a product—allows to look at a returned machine, analyse the cost of de-manufacturing, compare it with current market value and determine the optimal dismantle point in the process to maximize recovery and

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minimize expense (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). e-Business bid process: a new automated and paperless system implements including: an automated trend analysis to dynamically evaluate sale history for each item to determine the economics of its value vs. harvest/sale expense; a bid creation and management system for brokers; an automated bid response system to determine. Companies in the ICT industry can contribute to climate protection through different business and consumer facing initiatives as shown in table I. The next generation of products and services will have a very thin border between consumer’s and businesses’ markets because the very same item can be used in both fields (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008).

CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS Any transformation is an improvement opportunity, able to change people’s lives and businesses: the table above illustrates and contains current and future scenarios for a more aware Green behaviours. Some of the items listed in Table 1 have been implemented in practice. For example in the case of “engine efficiency” a wide array of solutions are already working in today’s cars. It is possible to say the same for “de-materialization” where manufacturers have built energy efficient printers (requiring low quantity of ink and paper) and even new business models have been implemented (print-on-demand, which marks the shift from a “print and share” to a “share and print” mentality). Moreover the technology development made possible telecommuting and integrated communication solutions where traditional PC have been replaced by portable devices with always on capabilities, causing the “internet of the things” phenomenon, where potentially each device can perform and execute tasks without the need of intrusive and demanding human intervention.

Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Table 1. How ICT addresses climate change Mobility Traffic flow

Housing

Nutrition

Virtual services

Shopping miles reduction

Education Tele-learning

Engine efficiency

Intelligent controls

Intelligent kitchen applications

Video on demand

Improving logistic

Demand-driven utilities

Food CO2 intensity information

Virtual teaching

Transportation substitution

Energy efficient buildings

Private transport optimization

Combined heat and power systems

Other interesting technologies are the so called “power over Ethernet” (PoE) and nano technologies: the former combines power and data into one single Ethernet cable. It can provide power to IP phones, routers and other low power consuming devices; the latter offers low power consumption capabilities too in conjunction with fast power up when needed. From a basic user’s behaviour, the incentives rely on “switch off” policy (turn off the devices when not working) and adopting power saving equipments also with regard of water and paper consumption (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). Nowadays, high level of attention is given to de-materialisation and data centres. In the first case, Governments are pushing toward a more digitalized and connected relationship in view to replace paper-based processes and documents to deliver an improved service to citizens and corporations enabling them to compete more efficiently and effectively. Also EU implemented a large variety of programs and initiatives to promote the knowledge economy/knowledge society, thus improving the quality of life and work in the countries. In the second case, the uptake of data centres is at the ground level for cloud computing in its different shapes (software as a service) and that introduces a revolutionary model in ITC industry to design, deploy and deliver applications to users (individuals and businesses alike). It is possible to understand the impact and the close relation between Green IT and current industry trends. To conclude, below there are two example

De-materialization

where Green ICT initiatives in specific fields has been adopted in different countries (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008).

Smart Living The Solaire building in New York was the US’s first “green” residential tower and was inspired by the Battery Park City Authority’s initiatives. As well as other sustainability features, it contains a comprehensive BMS to control the entire building. This was built into the plans at the design stage, is continuously updated and undergoes an annual re-commission. The BMS provides real time monitoring and reacts to external stimuli, such as the weather.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN ENVIRONMENT The EU is well ahead in the lead for environment protection laws and as such is setting an authoritative benchmark like (Fraunhofer 2008; Forrester 2007; Gartner 2007; Health Industry Insight 2007): EU directive on reduction of hazardous substances (RoHS); the Basel Convention on the control of the trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste and their disposal; EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipments (WEEE); EU legislation on registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH); EU directive on energy-using products (EuP).

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European approach is different from US one because rather than focusing on regulation, it relies on voluntary initiatives in conjunction between ICT and Governments or industry bodies to set up standards (Fraunhofer 2008; Forrester 2007; Gartner 2007; Health Industry Insight 2007): it is the case of eco-labelling such as the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment tool (EPEAT). Thirty-four countries have signed up to the legally binding Kyoto Protocol, the agreement negotiated via the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which sets a target for average global carbon emissions reductions of 5.4% relative to 1990 levels by 2012. Discussions for a post-2012 agreement are currently under way (Fraunhofer 2008; Forrester 2007; Gartner 2007; Health Industry Insight 2007). Businesses that can turn this challenge into an opportunity, by developing business models to enable adoption of low carbon solutions, will be in a stronger position to mitigate rising carbon emissions and adapt to a world dealing with the impacts of climate change. The terms “the new economy”, “the knowledge economy” and “the information society” all refer to the world’s increasing reliance on ICT to provide services and solutions that ultimately generate wealth (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008). In order to understand and compare the direct impact of ICT products and services and its enabling role in climate change solutions, the analysis set out to answer three main questions: • •

•

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What is the direct carbon footprint of the ICT sector? What are the quantifiable emissions reductions that can be enabled through ICT applications in other sectors of the economy? What are the new market opportunities for ICT and other sectors associated with realising these reductions?

Because of growth in demand for its products and services, mainly from emerging economies and the rapid adoption in the developed world, the ICT sector’s own carbon footprint is likely to grow under business as usual conditions to 1.4 GtCO2e by 2020, three times what it was in 2002 (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008) The ICT sector can enable emission reductions in a number of ways: •

•

•

•

•

Standardise: ICT can provide information in standard forms on energy consumption and emissions, across sectors (Hauschild 1998; IBM 2004/2007/2008; Gartner 2008; iStart 2008). Monitor: ICT can incorporate monitoring information into the design and control for energy use (Hauschild 1998; IBM 2004/2007/2008; Gartner 2008; iStart 2008). Account: ICT can provide the capabilities and platforms to improve accountability of energy and carbon (Hauschild 1998; IBM 2004/2007/2008; Gartner 2008; iStart 2008). Rethink: ICT can offer innovations that capture energy efficiency opportunities across buildings/homes, transport, power, manufacturing and other infrastructure and provide alternatives to current ways of operating, learning, living, working and travelling. Transform: ICT can apply smart and integrated approaches to energy management of systems and processes, including benefits from both automation and behaviour change and develop alternatives to high carbon activities, across all sectors of the economy (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008).

Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

DRIVERS FOR CHANGE IN ENVIRONMENT Although being green is not a priority, businesses, individuals and governments are well aware of the need of change because of three main issues: increasing energy and carbon costs; government and regulatory measures; the impact of climate change on brand values and customer’s behaviours. Companies like Tesco, M&S, BT and others are adopting one or more environmental criteria and measure in their buying policy for IT and IT-related products and services thanks to the sophistication and industry maturity pushing to compliance and standardisation (The climate group 2008; Gartner 2007/2008; Hendrik and Volk 2008). However, there are also some difficulties such as: lack of clear efficiency definition (today interconnected companies are likely to struggle to find a common ground of understanding in the matter, alongside conflicting KPIs alignment); lack of incentives (although the situation is rapidly changing as a consequence of increased level of attention and sensitivity alongside a fast changing consumer’s behaviour and preference); risk aversion/change management issues (some companies struggle to change the way they run business to become environmental friendly).

The Long Path to a Smart Grid: A Practical Example Without the full implementation of a smart grid, one utility, North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL), has figured out a way to get better data about its highest-paying customers using a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications. What is essentially a stripped-down mobile phone is programmed to call twice each month to meters where customer consumption data are stored, the way it might call to a dial-up modem. The data are downloaded and used by a local call centre to generate monthly billing.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) BETWEEN GREEN ICT AND BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION: SOME EXAMPLES OF CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS Examples of how companies around the world have been implementing CSR programs to support their business operations and future developments are presented in this section to provide a good understanding of the matter and enabling other entities to move onto the same path.

Mobile Business Goes Green A new report released by Vodafone and Accenture says that the use of mobile communications can reduce the annual energy bill for Europe by a €43 billion, equivalent to an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by at least 113 Mt CO2e (metric ton carbon dioxide equivalents) by 2020. The figure equals about 2.4% of the CO2 emissions for the whole of the EU, or eliminating close to one-fifth of the UK’s emissions. The report, titled Carbon Connections: quantifying mobile’s role in tackling climate change, identified 13 opportunities that could enable carbon abatement across 25 EU countries. But for these opportunities to come to fruition, governments will have to play an important role - like evolving regulation to set an appropriate price for carbon and decreasing free carbon allowances in order to encourage uptake of ICT emissions reduction opportunities, the report said. Additional government initiatives should focus on promoting interoperability and standardisation in the industry, establishing best practices and benchmarks, support more detail research into carbon reduction opportunities in specific industries, and to promote a cap-and-trade and offset mechanism. For example being able to access high-definition video conferencing from a mobile device can cut down the need to travel. The applications that cut emissions fall in two

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categories, the report said - smart machine-tomachine services, and dematerialization. Smart M2M applications, including smart grids, smart logistics, smart manufacturing and smart cities, represent up to 80% of the potential carbon savings, while dematerialisation applications such as video conferencing, represent the remaining 20% potential in reducing emissions (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). Vodafone recently launched a global M2M service platform aimed at helping companies deploy and manage large, wireless M2M projects including smart metering, connected cars, and the remote monitoring of equipment. With the platform, companies will be able to centrally manage and control the process of rolling out M2M devices across several countries, the company said (vodafone corporate website)

SaaS toward Green Companies today recognize the enormous operational efficiencies and sustainability benefits to be gained by removing paper from business processes that rely on documents, and many have already automated parts of key processes. Still, the cost and complexity of implementing software and hardware to achieve comprehensive automation can be prohibitive — making the Software as a Service (SaaS) model an attractive option (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). With SaaS, companies can deploy solutions across the enterprise quickly and pay only for what they use. This offers an extremely low-risk approach because it costs virtually nothing to implement a core component of the lean operations and green business initiatives that so many companies are focused on. Instead of installing and managing software to gain automation efficiencies, it is possible to simply access it via the Internet. SaaS makes the benefits of document process automation readily available. Essentially, all is needed is an Internet connection to deploy automated document processing across the entire enterprise. A SaaS approach offers the opportunity to shift

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ROI from the project level to the document level (capital versus operational expense) and achieve ROI immediately (Scholz 2007; International Journal 2008). Below are listed some Business scenarios that can take advantage from the right implementation of SaaS solution. These are discussed here briefly: 1. Order-to-cash and procure-to-pay With the right SaaS solution is possible to achieve the following benefits: Users anywhere in an organization can leverage the automation platform at any time to process customer orders, vendor invoices, customer invoices and purchase orders efficiently and consistently. Geographically separate business units can all share in the benefits of visibility, tight controls, support for effective process management and operational cost reduction Services can be customized easily so that each user only has access to the components he or she needs. Minimal implementation cost brings the benefits of automated document processing to organizations of any size — so small and medium businesses can gain process efficiencies once practical only for large corporations. Managers can accelerate execution of document automation projects without the need for deep involvement of IT resources or large budget allowances for implementation cost. 2. Vendor invoice and sales order management With a SaaS solution, scanned documents or those sent via fax, email or web can enter into an automated workflow for approval upon receipt. Orders and invoices can be dispatched to the appropriate business units where staff receive timely alerts that prompt them to sign-off on documents. Each order or invoice can be processed based on business rules matched to document attributes such as customer or supplier, amount, product,

Balancing Green ICT Business Development with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

business unit, etc. Every step of the workflow process can documented, and all documents can be automatically archived and retrieved immediately for reference or auditing. 3. Fax to order SaaS offers a cost-effective way to: Ensure reliable fax with a solution that is transparent to users. Let IT staff focus on process improvement instead of fax server configuration and maintenance. Support change control and business continuity by limiting the effect of changes like ERP upgrades on faxing systems, and avoiding downtime with around-the-clock monitoring. 4. Purchase order and customer invoice management. SaaS effectively eliminates the need for businesses to maintain a large enough supply of IT resources to handle the highest peaks in delivery volume. At the vendor production center, documents are received and processed by facilities that provide performance, reliability and security of applications, infrastructure and operations at levels that are above what most companies can or want to support. Documents and messages are handled confidentially, with all the elements necessary to guarantee data security, access control, reliability and scalability, availability and recovery. The increasing level of complexity and compliance (for example: Sarbanes-Oxley) regulations for legal and tax purposes should also be taken into account.

CONCLUSION This chapter has provided an overview of the key role that the ICT industry plays in addressing climate change globally and facilitating efficient and low carbon development. The role of ICT not only includes emission reduction and energy

savings in the ICT sector itself, but also benefits from the adoption of ICT technologies to influence and transform the way our society works and the way people behave. The current global downturn is an opportunity to further enhance policies and efforts toward Green IT programs in view of a more sustainable economy, new job creation and a cleaner and safe place to live Companies have already implemented some Green ICT solutions in conjunction and alongside wider business transformation initiatives; it has been demonstrated how those initiatives can positively impact the bottom line by creating new revenue streams by leveraging the increasing interest at customer’s level for Green economy. In saturated markets where companies are struggling to find a new way to capture buyer’s attention the availability of environmentally friendly products and services can really make a different in the way business communicate and deliver their value proposition. Dematerialization is a possible system for new product and solution development, enabling an enriched value chain to speed up design and roll out of novelty, knowledge sharing within manufacturers and capitalization from market’s input

REFERENCES Australian Computer Society (ACS) Policy statement on green ICT pp.1-11– ACS 2007 Bouwer M., M. Jonk, T. Berman, R. Bersani, H. Lusser, V. Nappa, A. Nissinen, K. Parikka, P. European Commission [EC] (2002). Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. Experton (2007.1).Green IT. What is worthwhile for users. Munich, Germany

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Experton (2007.2). Building a green server infrastructure. Munich, Germany Experton (2008).Green IT - in the area of conflict between a buzz word and economic necessity. Munich, Germany Forrester (2007). Creating the Green IT action plan. Munich, Germany Cappuccio, D. & Craver, L.(2007 November) The Data Center Power and Cooling Challenge. Stamford, CT: Gartner Fraunhofer Umsicht. (2008). Thin client. Economic assessment. Munich, Germany Hauschild, M., & Wenzel, H. (1998). Environmental Assessment of Products. Scientific background, 2. Boca Raton, FL: Chapmann & Hall. Health Industry Insights. (2007).Virtualization: Healthcare’s Cure for the Common Cost. Retrieved from http://www-07.ibm.com/systems/ includes/content/optimiseit/pdf/virtualization-upmc_profile-IDC_1-07.pdf IBM. (2004). Best practice in IT recycling: two obstacles with one solution (pp. 1–7). IBM US. IBM GBS. (2008). The green data center: cutting energy costs for a powerful competitive advantage. (pp.1-16 April 2008). Chuba, M. (2008). Gartner Survey Suggests Extensive Data Center Expansion Plans Are on the Horizon. Stamford, CT: Gartner. iStart (2008) Greening the supply chain New Zealand. Australia Bonini, S. M. J., Hintz, G., & Mendonca, L. T. (2008). Addressing consumer concern about climate change. San Francisco: Mckinsey Quarterly. A.T. Kearney (2008). Green IT - from environmental polluter to climate saver.

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Nordin, H. (2008). Your Computer and the Climate: Make a change today – Save the planet tomorrow. Stockholm, Sweden: TCO Development. OECD. (2009). Toward green ICT strategies: assessing policies and programmes on ICT and the environment. Paris: OECD. Creative Common. (2008). The climate group SMART 2020: enabling the low carbon economy in the information age (pp. 1–87). San Francisco: Creative Common. Hendrik, G., & Volk, C. (2008). Green ICT. Pink elephants or real return? (pp. 1–140). Germany: West LB. Scholz, R. (2007). Assessment of Land Use Impacts on the Natural Environment. Part 1: An Analytical Framework for Pure Land Occupation and Land Use Change. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 12(1). Berlin: Springer. SME ToolKit. (2007). Why energy efficiency matters for midsized company growth. Going green is more than a social statement (pp. 14–15). IBM Forward View. Socitm Consulting. (2007). Green ICT – taking the strategic approach. Retrieved from http:// www.socitim.gov.uk/consulting Szuppinger and C. Viganò. (2006). Green Public Procurement in Europe Conclusion and recommendations. Virage Milieu & Management. EICTA. (2008). High Tech - low carbon. Paper presented at EICTA building digital Europe. Brussels, 2008. T-Systems. (2008). White paper Green ICT. pp.1-24. Germany: T-System enterprise services GMBH.

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Chapter 45

CAMCE:

A Framework for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Alessia D’Andrea IRPPS-CNR, Italy Fernando Ferri IRPPS-CNR, Italy Patrizia Grifoni IRPPS-CNR, Italy

ABSTRACT There is a growing need to collaborate at national and European level for solutions connected with risks and problems due to climate changes. This need is leading to creation of Web platforms in which experts, stakeholders, decision-makers and overall citizens can collaboratively share information. This common information space on the Web can be used for planning, managing, evaluating and using services devoted to the protection and safeguarding of critical infrastructures (i.e. the supply of energy and water, sewage system maintenance). Keeping this purpose in mind, the chapter proposes a framework that provides a web-based collaborative opportunity for decision support, program management and collaboration for climate adaptation, mitigation and citizens’ education.

INTRODUCTION Global temperatures are expected to rise in the near future from 4 to 6 degrees (Richardson et al., 2009). This rise in temperature will produce unacceptable environmental, economic and social consequences. At the same time, as the effects will escalate in extreme weather, water, food, energy shortages, it will be important at DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch045

various levels (urban, regional, and so on) to be prepared for and create resilience to the impacts of climate changes (Braasch, 2007). Being resilient to climate change depends on collaboration across many players in business, industry, society and the government (Dow & Downing, 2006). These include: policy makers, scientists, policy implementers, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders. Achieving interoperability will be a powerful enabler of global response to climate change (Robinson, 2005).

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Keeping this purpose in mind, this chapter proposes a framework named CAMCE (Climate Adaptation, Mitigation and Citizens Education) that enables policy makers, scientists, policy implementers, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders to participate in environmental management and control. Such framework, it is hoped, will improve awareness, education and trust in environmental management and in risk management within the governance processes. In particular by using Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 technologies, the CAMCE framework implement structured Social Network communities as interactive methods for monitoring and supporting crisis situations and producing organized documentation by a coordinated decision process (Murugesan, 2007). These technologies will facilitate contact among experts, stakeholders and decision-makers permitting the involvement of citizen’s organizations and volunteer associations in order to enhance the efficiency of the management of services. The understanding, acceptance and contribution of political decisions define the resiliency of a society (Buckle et al., 2001). Inadequate information about climate change, opaque procedures and lack of public participation in decision-making can lead to severe criticism and distrust of decisions. These problems contribute to a lack of trust in policy. The involvement of citizens can assist policy makers in developing better policies to create better, safer living environments. The CAMCE framework provides a space where citizens and experts can share data and information in a common manner, from all physical locations and at any time throughout the lifecycle of policy development and implementation. This framework, therefore, has the potential to make the decision making process more democratic and at the same time increasing the level of trust and likelihood of acceptance and successful implementation. Furthermore, the CAMCE framework will allow decision makers to improve the people awareness about the climate changes, transforming consequently their habits and quality life.

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BACKGROUND Global warming is a reality as evidenced by Bowermaster (2007). These include the following: •

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the Average temperatures that have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit around the world since 1880, the rate of warming that is increasing: according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports “11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850” (United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007). the Arctic that is feeling the effects: according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report “the Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average” (ACIA, 2004). the Arctic ice that is rapidly disappearing, the glaciers and mountain snows that are rapidly reducing themselves, the coral reefs that suffered the worst bleaching ever recorded in 1998, with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70 percent, the upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, wildfires and strong tropical storms.

The International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in March 2009 stated that the speed and impact of global warming is exceeding the expectations of the 2006 Stern Report (Richardson et al., 2009). The increase in temperature over the 20th century is likely to have been the largest for any century in the last 1000 years. It is very likely that nearly all land areas will warm more rapidly than the global average, particularly those at high northern latitudes in the cold season (Chehoski, 2006). This scenario implies many risks such as:

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• • •

negative effects on ecosystems that occur at various levels of global warming; negative impacts that societies are willing to tolerate; the levels of global warming at which socalled tipping points might be crossed, where change is no longer linear and reversible, but large, and potentially irreversible in time frames (Rekacewicz, 2005).

Moreover there are many risks also associated with human health. According to Richardson et al. (2009), “these arise from direct stresses (e.g. heat-waves, weather workplace dehydration, disasters,), from ecological disturbance (e.g. altered infectious disease patterns), and disruptions of ecosystems on which humanity depends (e.g. health consequences of reduced food yields), from population displacement and conflict over depleted resources (water, fertile land, fisheries) (Gore, 2007). Melting ice-sheets may mobilize ice-bound chemical pollutants into the marine food web” (McMichael, 2009). An important aspect of managing this challenge posed by the environment is by bringing together various decision makers on a common platform that will enable them to make collective, timely and accurate decisions. One way to assist local decision-makers and administration consists of providing them with a web-based knowledge sharing and decision-support tool, which easily adapts to new findings in climate change research as well as to the specific needs and circumstances at local level. The EU has supported a large number of projects that provide decision-support tool by providing data collection and environmental monitoring. Among the projects WARMER (WAter Risk Management in EuRope) is an FP6 multi-disciplinary European project that involves different disciplines such as electronics, chemistry, information technology, micro-mechanics and networking (Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, 2007). WARMER aims

to develop a multi-parameter water quality monitoring system for risk assessment. The system can be used as a decision tool for supporting the management of pollution events in large rivers, lakes and coastal areas. It integrates the satellite based information products on a set of modular multi-parametric in-situ surveys. Another running conceptual example referred to the air quality is the portal provided by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment and implemented and maintained by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. It provides data on air quality giving data (measured by 20 stations in background areas) on the presence of several chemical elements and products such as NO2 (Nitrous dioxide), SO2 (Sulfur dioxide), CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) etc. GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) a European programmes aiming at creating an Europeanwide capability to acquire, analyse, process and distribute information in support of European environment and security directives (Liebig et al., 2007). Many EU projects can be referred to GMES. OSIRIS (Open architecture for Smart and Interoperable networks in Risk management based on In-situ Sensors) is a Sixth Framework Programme Integrated Project of the European Commission, aligned with GMES (http://www. osiris-project.eu/). Its goals are to define, develop and test services for surveillance and crisis management for the major environmental risk such as: forest fires, industrial risks, unexpected fresh water pollution and air pollution in urban areas. OSIRIS provides a Service Oriented Architecture based on standards such as standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and delivering functions ranging from in-situ earth observation to user services. OSIRIS will provide valuable and time saving learning. It aims at developing and sharing of data and knowledge among experts and decision makers. Another class of systems that are implemented is the learning systems class that aims to improve the people awareness and education about climate changes. One of this is the OneClimate.net a social networking space for

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climate change that act as a Climate Facebook to inspire people to take action to protect the planet. OneClimate.net links directly through to OneClimate Island, built by OneWorld within the 3D virtual world of Second Life. Connect-2-Climate system represents a joint initiative of ZMQ Software Systems and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). This system proposes an innovative methodology to educate people on climate change using mobile devices and gaming. The system aims to reach out to the common man by using the incredible power of mobile and other Information, Communication Technologies by creating mass awareness about climate change, environment through games and learning applications. In the first phase of Connect-2-Climate, three exciting mobile games are being launched on Reliance Mobile World, targeting different mindsets, psychology and strata of mobile phone users. Another system is “DeCarbonator” an edutainment game that aim to encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint by employing eco-friendly methods in life and developing sustainable habits like using cloth/jute bags, avoiding consuming fewer tetra pack, disposable items, planting more trees to preserve nature, switching off engine at the red signals, using public transport instead of personal transport using lead free petrol, opting for renewable energy resources and so on. Then there is “Mission Lighting” is an adventure game aimed at common man to make a smart choice by choosing energy efficient products, which can have a direct impact on climate change. Finally there is “Polar Teddy Quiz” a quiz-based game inviting users who have a bent of mind more towards questioning and reasoning. The CAMCE framework aims to reproduce the characteristics of the two different classes of systems previous described: 1. decision-support systems that provide data collection and environmental monitoring.

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2. learning systems that improve the people awareness about climate changes. The CAMCE framework aims to overcome the difficulties that currently affect the decisionmaking processes adopted to meet the climate change challenge. These processes are often fragmented both because of not coordinated actions carried out by different decision makers and for the insufficient involvement of the public. On considering the first aspect existing approaches focus on funding of single measures carried out by different decision makers that are not well connected/guided by common objectives. On considering the insufficient involvement of the public in the decision-making process inadequate knowledge, inapprehensible procedural steps as well as insufficient involvement of the public in the decision-making process lead to severe criticism and distrust respecting relevant decisions in regards to particular events. The CAMCE framework provides experts, stakeholders, decision-makers and, overall citizens a common information space in which they can collaboratively share information for planning, managing, evaluating and using services devoted to the protection and safeguarding of critical infrastructures. The CAMCE framework also allows decision makers to improve the people awareness about the climate changes, transforming consequently their habits and quality life, for instance by providing video with same notions of medical aid useful for emergency situations. In the following section the CAMCE framework is described in detail.

AN OPEN STANDARDS BASED FRAMEWORK As stated in the introduction, the main objective this chapter is to present an open standard based framework providing web-based decision support, program management and collaboration for climate adaptation, mitigation and citizens

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Figure 1. Iterative process of the CAMCE framework

education. The CAMCE framework enables policy makers, scientists, policy implementers, businesses, civil society and other stakeholders to participate in environmental management and control (improving awareness and trust in environmental management and in risk governance processes). In order to illustrate the basic process dynamics, Figure 1 depicts a simplified cycle of the iterative process of the CAMCE framework. The CAMCE framework presents three different macro-areas: the first is the area of the end user (citizens) that is interested in social networking and participatory functions, the second is the area of decision makers focused on structured communication and dialogue process and finally the third is the applications and acquisition area

that allows to search and visualize environmental data. The CAMCE framework provides citizens the possibility to interact both with each other and decision makers by using Social Network services. Social Networking allows citizens to easily establish contact among each other to have a mutual emotional support that is very important mainly in emergency situations. Emotional support in Social Networks benefits from the absence of traditional barriers to access and the possibility to assure online anonymity that can be helpful for those who have stigmatising or embarrassing conditions. Social Networking represents a simple, valid, convenient and inexpensive mechanism for citizens also to interact with decision makers. Even if it is clear that those who define the resiliency

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of a society against every kinds of events is the understanding, acceptance and contribution of political decisions, actually the interactions between citizens and decision makers are not considered. Inadequate knowledge, inapprehensible procedural steps as well as insufficient involvement of the public in the decision-making process lead to severe criticism and distrust respecting relevant decisions in regards to particular events. Public decision-making that is based only on the factual “scientific” dimension of events leads to distrust, not taking into account the “social” dimension, which includes how a particular hazard is perceived when values and emotions are concerned. Social perception is considered being fundamental for the behavior manly towards climate challenges and for the decision to take preventive measures. Understanding how the community perceives particular events can assist decision makers in developing better policy and more effective means to define: • •

learning tools for citizens education and behavior guidelines in case of emergencies; plans of actions both to validate regarding the overarching goal, reduction of events and adjust to concrete expectations, which the different partner had at the beginning of the actions.

By using the CAMCE framework decision makers have the possibility to interact and collaborate each other’s. Current decision making processes are fragmented because of not coordinated actions carried out by different decision makers. Existing approaches focus on funding of single measures carried out by different decision makers that are not well connected/guided by common objectives. The collaboration of various decision makers is important to lead to an innovative and more efficient crises management approach. Hence a dialogue among decision-makers is a challenge in the different stages of the crisis management

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process in order to guarantee a diversity of competing values, opinions and claims. A structured communication and dialogue process is needed to meet the requirements of an effective, knowledge based, fair, consultative and cost-effective crisis management process. This dialogue should facilitate discussions on different equally valid strategies to resolve uncertainties and ambiguities. On considering the Applications and Acquisition area this allows to collect data from the environment, permitting data mining activities and data visualization according to maps, graphics helping decision makers in their planning activities and citizens to improve their awareness. Moreover, citizens and decision makers can access community of practice functions, helping them in exchanging ideas and considering learning functions. Let us suppose that a local administration (municipality) has planned learning services for citizens in order to enhance their awareness on the environmental and climate changes, their consequences and people behaviors. He can connect to the Community of practice and insert some videos in order to give citizens some notions about medical aid useful for emergency situations. This can allows improving the people awareness about the climate changes, transforming consequently their habits and quality life.

ADVANTAGES OF THE CAMCE FRAMEWORK The challenges that today our society has to deal with involve several authorities and organizations that collect and assess data in order to manage problems. Little attention has been paid so far to the potential valuable role of ICT technologies, such as Web technologies (Social Network) that can define a space for sharing of on-line information and services at European level. This space would be devoted to:

CAMCE

• • •

catalyze social behavior change reducing CO2 emissions, manage emergency situations connected with climate change, prepare for and reduce climate related problems in critical areas.

Designing, implementing and using the proposed framework can have a directly relevant impact. To facilitate at European level the continuous collaboration among the different actors to create a common culture and to develop shared solutions. To achieve this purpose, the CAMCE framework implements a Web platform that integrates and manages data and information from different sources in order to resolve inconsistencies and redundancies, providing policy makers with a powerful decision support system and citizens with a coherent information space. Considering Web 2.0 technologies, the CAMCE framework will implement structured Social Network communities to provide interactive methods for monitoring and supporting crisis situations and to produce organized documentation by a coordinated decision process, using Web 2.0 technologies, in order to offer tools able to manage emergency situations.

These technologies, in fact, allow not only to have a common space of shared knowledge and experiences, but also processes and services that could lead to more standardised activities, interventions, learning, and so on, among different countries. Web technologies and Social Network communities allow the contact among experts, stakeholders and decision-makers permitting the involvement of citizens. As stated before the understanding, acceptance and contribution of political decisions define the resiliency of a society. Inadequate information about climate change, opaque procedures and lack of public participation in decision-making lead to severe criticism and distrust of decisions. These problems contribute to a lack of trust in policy. The involvement of citizens can assist policy makers in developing better policies to create better, safer living environments. The CAMCE framework uses structured Social Networks where citizen and experts can share data and information in all places and at any time throughout the lifecycle of policy development and implementation. This has the potential to make the decision making process more democratic and at the same time it increases the level of trust and likelihood of acceptance

Table 1. Advantages of the CAMCE framework in the context of Climate policy development and education FRAMEWORK’S AREAS

ADVANTAGES

END USER (CITIZENS)

€€€€€• to interact both with each other and decision makers by using Social Network services; €€€€€• to have a mutual emotional support that is very important mainly in emergency situations; €€€€€• to access learning tools to improve awareness of risks during emergency situations.

DECISION MAKERS

€€€€€• to collaborate among different actors in order to create a common culture and to develop shared solutions; €€€€€• to resolve inconsistencies and redundancies in policy makers decisions; €€€€€• to provide interactive methods for monitoring and supporting crisis situations; €€€€€• to produce organized documentation by a coordinated decision; €€€€€• to develop learning tools for citizens education and behavior guidelines in case of emergencies; €€€€€• to implement plans of actions in order to create better, safer living environments.

APPLICATIONS AND ACQUISITION

€€€€€• to search and visualize environmental data; €€€€€• to access learning functions by using MP3 or video applications.

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and successful implementation. This approach to inclusiveness has recently been discussed by the DG Research seminar on “Inclusive Risk Governance” which took place in Brussels in December 2008. As one of the main recommendations, the report stated: “In many disciplines risk is still being understood as a mathematical term (function of frequency and magnitude of an event and its consequences). This is particular important for natural hazards and climate change, enormous damage potentials, but also social vulnerabilities are related with. It is recommended to widen the focus of a potential follow-up Risk Goverscience Seminar to this field of action.” This statement clearly underlines the need for more inclusiveness in adaptation strategy to climate change. Hence, creating a wide and shared meshwork collaboration space can improve the citizenship involvement in the environmental problems and an improvement in their awareness of issues. Moreover this shared meshwork space makes the management of calamities produced by the climate change more effective. Indeed, an environmental information meshwork enables policy makers from different countries to obtain syntactic and semantic interoperability through well-defined standards. Collaboration facilitates, interactive decision-making processes, knowledge exchange and information sharing are fundamental enablers of citizen involvement.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORKS In this chapter we have presented the CAMCE framework as web-based decision support that enables policy makers, scientists, policy implementers, civil society and other stakeholders to participate in environmental management and control (improving awareness and trust in environmental management and in risk governance processes). The CAMCE framework presented three different macro-areas: the first is the area of the end user (citizens) that is interested in social

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networking and participatory functions, the second is the area of decision makers focused on structured communication and dialogue process and finally the third is the applications and acquisition area that allows to search and visualize environmental data. The CAMCE framework, whose architecture and first prototype has been designed and implemented, needs to be implemented again as an engineered system and to be evaluated. Therefore, its implementation and validation are topics of future work.

REFERENCES ACIA. (2004). Impact of a Warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assesment. Synthesis report. Cambridge University press. Bowermaster, J. (2007). Global Warming Changing Inuit Lands. Lives, Arctic Expedition Shows National Geographic News. Braasch, G. (2007). Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming Is Changing the World (Univ. of Calif. Press, 2007). Buckle, P., Marsh, G., & Smale, S. (2001). Assessing Resilience & Vulnerability: principles, strategies & actions. Guidelines prepared for Emergency Management Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Chehoski, R. (2006). Critical Perspectives on Climate Disruption (Rosen, 2006). Dow, K., & Downing, T. E. (2006). The Atlas of Climate Change (Univ. of Calif. Press, 2006). Gore, A. (2007). An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming (rev. ed.). Viking. Liebig, V., Aschbacher, J., Briggs, S., Kohlhammer, G., Zobl, R. (2007). GMES Global Monitoring for Environment and Security: The Second European Flagship in Space.

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McMichael, T. (2009). Health risks of climate change: we all need to be involved. Available at: http://www.anu.edu.au/climatechange/wpcontent/uploads/2009/06/racpnews_article.pdf Murugesan, S. (2007). Going Green with IT: Your Responsibility Toward Environmental Sustainability. Cutter Consortium Business-IT Strategies Executive Report, 10(8), August 2007. Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (2007). WAter Risk Management in EuRope Deliverable D.11 “Satellite Remote Sensing of Water Quality”(2007) Rekacewicz, P. (2005). [Synthesis Report.]. Climatic Change, 2001. Richardson, K., Steffen, W., Schellnhuber H. J., Alcamo, J., Barker, T., Kammen, D.M., Leemans, R., Liverman, D., Munasinghe, M., Osman-Elasha, B., Stern, N., Wæver, O. (2009). Climate change global risks, challenge & decisions. Synthesis report. Robinson, J. B. (2005) Climate change and sustainable development: changing the lens. Paper presented to the Joint IPCC WG II and III Expert Meeting on the Integration of Adaptation, Mitigation, and Sustainable Development into the 4th IPCC Assessment Report, La Reunion, France, February 16–18.

United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2007). [Synthesis Report.]. Climatic Change, 2007.

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Climate Changes: Is a change in the statistical distribution of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. Global Warming: Is the increase in the average temperature of Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Web Platform: Is an application that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Crisis Management: Is the process by which decision makers deal with a major unpredictable event that threatens to harm the population. Risk Communication: Is an interactive process of exchange of information and opinion among individuals, groups, and institutions. It often involves multiple messages about the nature of risk or expressing concerns, opinions, or reactions to risk messages. Risk Management: Is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events

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Chapter 46

Decision Criteria for Green Management Information Systems Tagelsir Mohamed Gasmelseid King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT The emphasis on climate changes and their consequences is moving to the front line agenda of government agencies, business organizations, industry, and research institutions. While the existence of beneficiary and/or regulatory considerations tends to be the main motivator, the perceived growing impacts of climate change on objectives and strategies is emerging as a new attention driving force. However, the perceived impacts and “pressures” felt have resulted into different interventions, analytical approaches and operational pathways. This growing attention has also been accompanies with the establishment of specialized organizations such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, specialized programs at other UN agencies and dedicated research programs at educational institutions. While Greening ICT continued to be one of the major themes, emphasis tends to be made on technological and technical methodologies. As a result, there have been many shortcomings with regards to the understanding and appreciation of the impacts of climate changes at different landscapes. The basic aim of this chapter is to investigate and discusses the context of ICT greening from another dimension by looking at the impacts of “greening” procedures on the capacity of management Information Systems to facilitate the realization of corporate objectives. The chapter advocates an approach for viewing the impacts of greening procedures on MIS by focusing on its entire architecture, information processing capacity and knowledge management considerations.

INTRODUCTION The impacts of climate changes are significantly influencing the approaches of organizations and DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch046

governments to use resources, develop appropriate environment-friendly strategic frameworks and adopt a holistic approach to understand their operating environment. These impacts can be seen in the search for energy effective solutions, outsourcing processes and engaging into

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Decision Criteria for Green Management Information Systems

partnerships and alliances. At the same time, governments have been stepping up policy and legislative initiatives, assessment frameworks, and engagement in international conventions to cut carbon emissions and promote sustainability. Governments and businesses have a wide range of initiatives dealing with the impacts of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the environment and climate change. Initiatives concentrate on greening ICTs by directly reducing the emissions of computers and servers. However, ICT applications through their capabilities to record analyze and report, also have an important role to play in reducing global warming and environmental degradation. However, only about one-fifth of green initiatives in business have measurable targets and their frequency is also higher in government lead initiatives rather than business associations. Even fewer governments and business associations focus on measuring the quality and impact of their policies and programmes (OECD, 2009A). In addition to the direct effects representing environmental issues directly related to ICTs, their applications can greatly enable energy savings through the use of “smart” ICTs and sensor-based networks and the Internet. As enablers, ICT applications can contribute to more sustainable use of global resources, for instance by tracking and monitoring water use, biodiversity, land use, pollution. Advances in ICTs and other technologies facilitate behavioral and organizational changes towards sustainability (OECD, 2009B). With reference to climate change and the importance of ICT greening, there has been a wide agreement on some issues including: a. The performance of ICT has to improve because it constitutes a major part of the solution in tackling climate change and related environmental challenges; its performance has to improve. Smart applications in transport, buildings and urban environments, energy generation, distribution and produc-

tion need to be increasingly, ICT-enabled (ITU, OECD and GeSI (2009). b. There needs to be a better fit between environmental policies and ICT policy pathways to improve the contribution of ICT to the mitigation of climate change activities. While such fit is essential to ensure the orchestration of functions it also determines the extent of innovation to be undertaken and the drivers of its initiation and diffusion. Different types of innovation usually require significant changes in the behavior of employees, task systems, new knowledge to be embodied in policy formulation processes, status quo, and information, values, and incentives, among other things (Nystrom, Ramamurthy & Wilson, 2002). c. Better information is crucial for greater efficiency, to reap the undoubted benefits of ICT applications across the economy. The lack of information and ignorance about environmental issues will engender concern to be translated into both personal and political behavior changes (Bartiaux, 2008). d. Green growth policies need to address issues of equity and the digital divide through use of ICTs. Harnessing the capabilities of ICTs to empower consumers is essential to measure and manage individuals’ environmental footprints. To serve this purpose, affordable and relevant ICT applications need to be diffused and used globally. ICT is an obvious target with its relentless growth and high turnover of technology, but it is also a key tool for delivering green services and implementing a green policy across the organization. Because ICT is directly and inexorably related to sustainable development, the formulation of an organization-wide carbon reduction strategy is gaining paramount importance in improving organizational green profile and competitiveness. Such organization-wide strategies will invariably include the Management Information Systems

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(MIS) of the organization. This chapter investigates and discusses the impact of the green movement on the MIS of an organization. Therefore, this chapter is focused more on the information systems side of the green movement rather than the information technology aspect of it.

CURRENT OPTIONS ON THE GREENING MENU The question of greening ICT is looming very big within the context of the growing impacts of climate change. However, while “greening” processes are being regarded as adaptation measures, different “greening” options and initiatives are being considered as shown below. Each of these initiatives has to deal with corresponding information systems – supported by data bases, processes and interfaces. 1. Minimizing work-related journeys and commuting in order to reduce carbon emissions and make significant savings and productivity improvements (Terry, 2007). Emphasis tends to be made on introducing full time home based working and the use of electronic document and records management (EDRM) and workflow monitoring systems. The aim is to improve the productivity of staff, overall well being, and return on investment. Introduction of mobile work technologies including Tablet PCs and video conferencing to manage organizational interactions with customers has also been growing. Using such technologies to collect information (through meeting and interviews) also aims at reducing work-related journeys. 2. Focusing on the incorporation of “greening” dimensions in the processes of the entire supply chain through “green” procurement and outsourcing. The aim of the concerned Environmental Purchasing Policies (EPP) used by some organizations is to actively

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encourage suppliers to supply environmentally friendly products. They also promote the incorporation of environmental criteria in the selection of suppliers and award of contracts. 3. Conducting regular replacement of existing equipments with more environmentally friendly equipments. 4. Reducing the energy use of ICT equipment to reduce carbon emissions including the use of ultra low energy thin clients and servers to minimize power.

CHALLENGES OF THE GREENING APPROACH AND OPTIONS Despite the potentials of the greening options to be used by organizations and governments, the real time outcomes of such greening processes should be thoroughly investigated. The main problem is that such interventions continued to be technologyoriented with a remarkable lack of focus on the development and use of relevant assessment and monitoring techniques. Greening information and communication technology should not be regarded as an end in itself but rather a catalyst for improving sustainable development and, most importantly, realizing organizational objectives. However, each of the greening options has its own impacts on the capacity of the organization to achieve its objectives and its corresponding processes. Greening ICT can facilitate more collaborative and less carbon intensive ways of working. On the other hand, the emerging technologies used for mobile, remote, home and flexible working processes dictate new working styles that call for: a. a dramatic cultural change and; b. a transformation of the organization’s information management strategy in order to align the “greened” technology with on-going

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business processes, working behavior and style.

the impact on the organization extends to include its sourcing and outsourcing procedures and competitiveness.

On the other hand, “greened” alignment also demands the development of “green” procedures. The problem of such “greening” process is the challenge of restricting the benefits only to carbon reduction. Because of the “political overheating” of the term green ICT, organizations tend to under estimate the assessment benefits in terms of:

The reduction of energy use of ICT equipment, as a “greening” mechanism deserves a comprehensive organization-wide (and sometimes industry wide) carbon reduction strategy. But the development and deployment of such a strategy is challenged by the following factors:

a. The connection of greening processes on organizational objectives and the capacity of the organization to realize them. Such connection sheds light on the entire (and potential) competitive matrix and resource use strategies. b. The capacity of the organization to select and deploy (conventional and electronic) business models. However, the models to be adopted also reflect structure-based technology adoption decisions. The development of societal and organizational structures that enable well-informed choices of technologies which promote climate stability, adaptation to the effects of climate change and is essential (Charikleia, Doukas & Psarras, 2010). c. The capacity of the organization to function as an open system and manage its connections with the change agents, partners and intermediaries interacting in its operating environment. Practically, “greening” ICT significantly affect both the sell side denoting the Customers Relationships Management (CRM) and buy-side denoting the Supply Chain Management (SCM) processes of organizational functions. The challenge therefore, is how to understand the contribution of carbon reduction towards the optimization (and sometimes the maximization) of the organizational relationships with its partners (suppliers, distributor, agents, and intermediaries) and customers. As a result,

a. The scale of analysis dictated by the guidelines used for distributing and allocating carbon reduction loads. This brings a controversy regarding (i) “who” distributes loads: the government? Or the city council? Or the industry? Or the organization? Etc and (ii) the acceptability and universality of load allocation mechanisms and regulatory and/ or obedience measures. b. The perception of “impacts” differentials originating from the incorporation of carbon emission reductions in the entire organizational intervention policies. Such perception differentials are complicated further by the difficulty of defining “reduction” commitments, and whether such reduction should be implemented against “commitments” only other factors. It worth mentioning that perception differentials follow different style for manufacturing and non-manufacturing processes and profit and nonprofit organizational objectives. Especially for organizations managed using the concepts of profit, cost and responsibility centers, such differentials may lead to sub-optimization and organizational conflicts. c. Because ICT is directly and inexorably related to the realization of development goals, reducing the number and type of information technologies in use as a measure to counter carbon emissions negatively affects different sectors. Especially in education, medicine, media, e-services, among oth-

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ers, are examples of such affected sectors. It also affects the organizational processing capacity of the entire organization. The use of energy saving software, on the other hand, is challenged by licensing and automatic upgrades that may occur at different time intervals. Moreover, especially for ERPenabled and/or internet-based organizations the functionality of the entire applications is also affected by any change in the architecture and assembly of the entire ERP including prompt response and information exchange through messaging.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS ORIENTED GREENING DECISION CRITERIA Approaching the greening process through emphasis on management information systems provides a road map for understanding the dynamism of greening and its impact on organizational functionality. This, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, is vital for the success of the green movement within the organization. While pure technology focus can help reduce the emissions from equipments and other operational gadgets, focus on MIS is crucial supplement to the overall energy reduction effort of the organization. However, despite the existence of a wide range of factors to be considered, the impacts of ICT greening (and the decision to adopt any greening procedure) can be viewed based on the following broad factors: i.

The impact of ICT greening procedures and techniques on the role of MIS in the achievement of organizational objectives and maintenance of competitive advantage edges:

ICT has been a driving course in the achievement of competitive advantages in organizations but such use has been guided by understanding the

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five forces described by Porter in the Five Forces Model: the power of the customer, the power of suppliers, the existence of close substitutes, rivalry among rivals and new market entrants. However, the challenge for organizations is how to align the impact of such factors in favor of its improved organizational competitive capacity. The conceptualization of ICT as “ends” rather than “means” and the lack of integrated implementation models challenges the role of MIS in enhancing competitiveness. Because MIS has outstanding focus on the internal functionality of the enterprise, the situation is complicated further by any technology-oriented “greening” procedures that underestimate the impact of organizational, informational and managerial concerns. For an organization to think about adopting “greening” its information technology, emphasis should be made on the extent to which such greening procedures are expected to influence the ability of its MIS to influence competitiveness factors in favor of the enterprise. The misconception that technology, in and of itself, can provide advantage; therefore, in greening MIS the focus in not on pure technology but on systems and processes surrounding the technologies. Within the context of the digital economy, the role of MIS is not limited to information provision but it extends to the conversion of the strategic grid and strategic opportunity matrix specifically to the environmentally-conscious effort of the organization. The failure to capture the change and dynamism of the competitive climate; requires the organization to think of green awareness as a true and competitive tool. ii. The improvement of the information processing capacity of the organization: Information processing capacity refers to the volume of data that an organization can utilize in its efforts to devise actions that enable the organization to prosper (Christopher et al, 2009). It plays a key role in shaping the interpretations that managers make of events and trends and their

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attempts to understand how organizations develop knowledge (Egelhoff, 1982; Daft & Lengel, 1986; Grant, 1996). In relation to the process of providing management information, information systems play six significant roles (Philip & Booth, 2001) mainly: a. Survival which assumes that the technology is an essential part of doing business, without which the organization would be unable to function. It deals with such operations as accounting, payroll, automation of manufacturing functions, etc and focuses on improvement of operational efficiencies, cost reductions and internal integration. Survival can also incorporate the use of systems b. Sources and resources: Being guided with the Resource Dependency theory (Sabherwal & Tsoumpas, 1993), the organization is regarded as a system which interacts with its external environment and using inputs to process them and generate outcomes and feedback. Inter-organizational information systems play significant roles in the acquisition, processing, and marketing of products/services. Adopting a competencedriven view that organizations are basically collections of resources, information systems technology allows for improved access to resources, increased integration and enhanced competencies development strategies (Clemons & Row, 1991); (Klein & Kromen, 1995). This is because of the improved organizational capacity to manage those relationships, ensuring a free internal and external flow of resources (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978) and the satisfaction of the demand originating from its environment. c. Strategy where information systems and technologies to allow organizations to create (not only improve) competitive advantages through improved skills, tools and mechanisms. As a result, the organization

can exploit the ideas and strategic visions of talented individuals. d. Service Value Analysis refers to the identification of new ways of doing business through the redesigning or complete rethinking of the way in which individual processes are performed. Information systems and technologies operate as enablers in the move to more flexible and cross-functional process arrangements. e. S(c)yberspace which provides organizations with a platform to implement operation, and build network or computer-mediated relationships with their stakeholders and partners in a flexible, customizable, innovative way. As a result, organizations enjoy more enhanced responsiveness, adaptability and coordination. f. Sustainability which is concerned with the management processes associated with the others because it determines the success or failure of the roles of information systems. The more sustainable the role of MIS in the organization, the more will the improved organizational capacity to enjoy benefits. The impact of greening processes on the six roles to be played by information systems are described in accordance with the impacts of such processes on its architecture, information processing capacity and knowledge management as shown in Table 1. Using the systems approach, the impacts shown in the above mentioned two dimensions can be described by viewing impacts on greening procedures of MIS based on the following factors: 1. MIS architecture Information system architecture is composed of the definition of the components of the IS, a description of their interconnections (both ‘‘logical’’ and ‘‘physical’’ within a network, for instance) and finally, their interaction in time (system dynamics)

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Table 1. Greening impacts on IS roles using IS indictors survival

Sources and Resources

Strategy

Service Value Analysis

S(c)yberspace

Sustainability

MIS Architecture

Automation of processes & internal integration.

CRM & SCM integration & efficiency

Alternative conventional &electronic business models.

Process & product redesign

CRM & SCM coordination and organizational control

Functional optimization

Information processing capacity

Competitiveness and responsiveness

Rapid response and JIT

Policy and information analysis

High added value

Functional and process integration

Process and policy issues

Knowledge management

Added capacity

Modified ways

Knowledge production and use

Added values

New models

leadership and accountability

(Virginie et al, 2006). It is important for the identification of relevant technological acquisitions and other related resources. It is also important for locating technological and organizational modifications to be adopted during the development process (Brancheau & Wetherbe, 1986). However, the architecture of MIS is directly and inexorably related to the software architecture and organizational architecture. Software architecture is the structure of the components of a program or system (together with their interrelationships and dependencies) and the principles and guidelines that govern their design and evolution (Faheem & Capretz, 2008). It plays a key role in bridging the gap between requirements and implementation. It also provides a tractable guide to the overall system, permits designers to reason about the ability of a system to satisfy certain requirements, and suggests a blueprint for system construction and composition (Shifeng & Goddard, 2007; Garlan, 2001; Allen, et al, 1998). According to Nadler and Gerstein (1992), organizational architecture can be defined as ‘‘the art of shaping ‘behavioral’ space to meet the needs and aspirations of a business.’’ It describes models and guides organizational change using the categories of purpose, structural materials, style, and collateral technologies. It is one aspect of a dominant design. As shown in Figure 1, the entire architecture includes the following components:

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a. Business Process Architecture: This component represents the connections among different organizational processes and functionalities. It incorporates tow main layers: i. Process and integrity layer depicting planning and execution systems. Functional planning systems include supply chain planning, manufacturing planning, and demand planning. Functional execution systems include procurement, manufacturing, warehouse management, and order planning. Each aspect of these systems needs to be modeled, studied, and optimized for Green ICT. ii. Information modeling layer describing the variety of business models in use, information modeling paradigms, and data shaping techniques in use. b. Application and data architecture: This component describes the applications to be offered throughout the architectural model based on two types of layers: (i) Services application layer to be used for the operationalization of services such as customer relationship management; supply chain management; data mining and analysis; and content management systems. (ii) Content and data layer describing network-specific

Decision Criteria for Green Management Information Systems

Figure 1. Greening dimension: MIS architecture

content and data for intranets, internet and extranet including customers’ data. c. Technology Architecture: The technology architecture represents a major component of the entire MIS because it describes its hardware, software, telecommunication and databases. It incorporates three main layers: i. System and applications software layer which describes operating systems, web browser, server software and standards, network software, and database management systems. ii. Transport/network layer incorporating the dimensions of physical data transfer and management, physical network and transport standards (mainly TCP/IP), coding standards, physical interoperability and functional orchestration.

iii. Storage/physical layer representing the level of storage on permanent magnetic storage on web servers, optical backup, temporary storage in memory (RAM) and storage on network and Virtual networks. 2. Mainstreaming knowledge management procedures and techniques Greening procedures have to be viewed in terms of their impacts on Knowledge management decisions involving the integration and transfer of knowledge. The importance of such decisions stems from the fact that they shape the overall process of formal and informal design, implementation and sharing of Knowledge. One of the main knowledge management related de-

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Figure 2. Modeling Organizational innovation

cisions is knowledge codification through which greening practices may have significant impacts on the information processing capacity of the enterprise (Fernando et al, 2009; Soo, Devinne, & Midgley, 2002). Knowledge codification is defined as the process of converting the codifiable tacit knowledge into messages (patents, databases, user manuals, etc.) that can then be processed as information (R. Cowan & Foray, 1997; Balconi, 2002; Cohendet & steinmueller, 2000; Albino, Garavelli, & Schiuma, 2001). Because the codification process modifies the proportions of tacit and explicit knowledge present in the firm and their location by transferring some of the knowledge from the minds of the workers to the organization’s data warehouses (Subramanian & Youndt, 2005), impacts of greening on the entire MIS architecture may be negative. 3. Organizational innovation & change management and modeling According to Dainty et al, (2007), innovation is defined as the process of bringing new and improved products and processes to market; de-

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veloping, adopting and adapting manufacturing processes to enhance productivity and product quality; developing, adopting and adapting business practices to enhance the performance of the firm. Therefore, it affects the capacity of the organization to model its internal and external interactions. At the level of organizational innovation, the challenges include conflicts of vested interests, project based working patterns, lack of technology and other resources, lack of top level management support, functional sub optimization, incompatibility of innovation with organization structure, inappropriate organizational culture and distorted social structure (Barnes, et al. 2001; Terziovski, et al. 2003; Loewe & Dominiquini 2006; Leifer, et al. 2000; Belland, 2009) As shown in Figure 1, architecture oriented impacts of greening processes should be understood in accordance with internal and external change agents. Internal change agents refer to impacts and consequences of change of organizational objectives, resource base and resource use matrix. As shown in Figure 2, external change agents are social, legal, environmental, political and technological factors. The impacts of such factors may

Decision Criteria for Green Management Information Systems

originate at local (organization-specific or country based) and/or international landscapes. However, both sets of change agents tend to significantly influence the role of MIS to support competitiveness as well as the information processing capacity of the entire organization. This is because they affect the entire organization’s corporate and support strategies and the perceived business models in use (both conventional and electronic). The impact of greening procedures should be understood in terms of the nature and magnitude of organizational change to take place, organizational change modeling and management capacity and the degree of organizational innovation to be incorporated. On the other hand, both internal and external factors influence the entire MIS architecture and its functionality. Generally speaking, the dramatic organizational shift necessitates the incorporation of environment-friendly factors. The lack of an integrated greening approach complicates enterprise-wide organizational change management and innovation. The impacts of internal and external factors dictate new axioms for technology infusion and diffusion and generate comprehensive information systems management issues. Whether organizations are prepared to adapt to the resulting changes consequences and requirements originating from greening processes remains questionable. Within this context, organizations must approach change in a holistic manner and avoid partial solutions. Therefore, simply using higher powered technological gadgets to increase profit margin is unlikely to serve the organization well in the carbon-focused future.

FUTURE TRENDS AND DIRECTIONS The emphasis on green information and communication technology is growing due to the dramatic impact of climate change natural systems, economic activities, food systems and the lives of business organizations. The impact follows an integrated “hyper” fashion where consequences

taking place at the top of the hierarchy of analysis (e.g., natural systems) dramatically affect populated units, structures and systems at the bottom. Within this context, climate-related, IT-based and business organizations tend to emphasize on the adoption of technological mechanisms and technical interventions. Such emphasis is being motivated by the technological advancements that took place over the last century and the lack of integrated frameworks that move beyond their boundaries. However, the complexity of climate change patterns, the intensity of consequences at different landscapes and the wide range of limitations, technological and technical interventions they are not enough to understand the potentials and consequences of climate change and, accordingly, decide on ICT greening processes. The limited view resulting from the adoption of technological and technical approaches reduces the ability of organizations to crystallize and understand non-technical mechanisms and their consequences. It is technical, technological, social, cultural dimensions and mechanisms which lead appropriate decision making regarding ICT greening. Understanding the impacts of such greening procedures on the organization’s MIS provides some guidance in this regard. Climatic changes are expected to continue at varying rates of development in terms of magnitude, scale and impacts. In the light of the dominance of “scaling” rather than “analysis” orientations of organizations involved in climate change assessment, lack of a comprehensive approach will continue to threaten effective ICT greening processes. While emphasis on ICT greening using technological intervention mechanisms is a candidate for escalation, additional emphasis will be made on the development of integrated frameworks. The near future will exhibit a growing emphasis on understanding the process of ICT greening through multiple dimensions including in addition to technology, organizational, institutional, resource-based and socio-cultural dimensions. Emphasis on understanding the con-

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textual impacts of ICT greening procedures on organizational management information systems assumes a paramount important priority for business organizations especially under the existing highly competitive, networked digital economy.

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Garlan, D. (2001). Software architecture. In Marciniak, J. (Ed.), Wiley Encyclopedia of Software Engineering. John Wiley & Sons. Goepp, V., Kiefer, F., & Geiskopf, F. (2006). Design of information system architectures using a key-problem framework. Computers in Industry, 57, 189–200. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2005.09.001 Grant, R. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17, 109–122. ITU. OECD & GeSI (2009). ICTs and climate change: Official side-event by ITU, OECD, and GeSI. United Nations Climate Change Talks, Barcelona, 2-6 November 2009. Retrieved on February 2, 2010 from OECD: www.oecd.org/ sti/ict/green-ict Karakosta, C., Doukas, H., & Psarras, J. (2010). Technology transfer through climate change: Setting a sustainable energy pattern. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Articles in Press, Corrected Proofs, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2010.02.001. Klein, S., & Kromen, J. H. (1995). IT-enabled co-operations: A resource-based approach. In G. Doukidis, B. Galliers, T. Jelassi, H. Krcmar, & F. Land (Eds.), Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Information Systems, Athens/ Greece, June 1–3 (pp. 43–56). Leifer, R., McDermott, C. M., O’Connor, G. C., Peters, L. S., & Rice, M. P. (2000). Radical Innovation How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Loewe, P., & Dominiquini, J. (2006). Overcoming the barriers to effective innovation. Journal of Strategy and Leadership, 34(1), 24–31. doi:10.1108/10878570610637858

Morton, S. C., Burns, N. D., & Dainty, A. R. J. (2007). Beyond Lean: Overcoming Resistance to Innovation to Improve Productivity. Paper presented at POMS 18th Annual Conference, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. May 4 – May 7, 2007. Nadler, D. A., & Gerstein, M. S. (1992). What is organizational architecture? Harvard Business Review. September–October. Nystrom, P. C., Ramamurthy, K., & Wilson, A. L. (2002). Organizational context, climate and innovativeness: adoption of imaging technology. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 19(3-4), 221–247. doi:10.1016/ S0923-4748(02)00019-X OECD. (2009A). Towards Green ICT Strategies. Assessing Policies and Programmes on ICT and the Environment. DSTI/ICCP/IE (2008)3/FINAL, May 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2010 from www. oecd.org/sti/ict/green-ict. Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. R. (1978). The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective. New York: Harper and Row Publishers. Philip, G., & Booth, M. E. (2001). A new six ‘S’ framework on the relationship between the role of information systems (IS) and competencies in ‘IS’ management. Journal of Business Research, 51, 233–247. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(99)00051-X Sabherwal, R., & Tsoumpas, P. (1993). The development of strategic information systems: some case studies and research proposals. European Journal of Information Systems, 24, 240–259. doi:10.1057/ejis.1993.36 Soo, C., Devinne, Y. T., Midgley, D., & Deering, A. (2002). Knowledge management: philosophy, processes, and pitfalls. California Management Review, 44(4), 129–150.

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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Climate Change: Refers to the variations in the mean state of the climate on all temporal and spatial scales beyond that of individual weather events. Variability y may be internal (originating from natural internal processes within the climate system) or external (originating from variations in natural or anthropogenic external factors. Management Information System: Is the collection of technological components (hardware, software, databases, and communication networks), procedures, human resources and other facilities that assist in the acquisition, stor-

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age, processing and dissemination of information necessary for decision making and control. ICT Greening: Refers to the effective and efficient development, designing, using and disposing of environmentally friendly and sustainable information and communication technologies that contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions. Architecture: It describes the main components of an entire system including its interconnections, relationships, logical and physical dependencies within a specific layout domain and socio-technological domain. Knowledge Management: Is the continuous process of adopted by individuals and organizations to collectively and systematically capture, create, share, improve and apply knowledge, to better achieve their objectives and promote the delivery of outstanding collaboration and partnership working. Information Processing Capacity: It reflects on the volume of data that an organization can utilize in its efforts to devise actions that enable it to prosper, remain competitive and capable of realizing its corporate objectives. Technology-Based Approach: Is the approach that aims at the use of technology-specific interventions to address the context of ICT greening. Such interventions include the reduction of work journeys and commuting, reduction of the number and type of information technologies to reduce energy use, regular replacement of existing equipments with more environmentally friendly equipments, and adoption of “green” procurement and outsourcing.

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Chapter 47

Adopting Green ICT in Business Chitra Subramanian Independent Scholar

ABSTRACT Information Communication Technology (ICT) is playing an increasingly important role in professional and private lives worldwide and is thus also increasingly becoming a significant energy consumer and CO2 emitter. Green IT benefits the environment by improving energy efficiency, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, using less harmful materials, and encouraging reuse and recycling. The explosion of information and communication technology (ICT), including personal computers, servers and data centers, handheld and telephonic devices, and printers, over the past few decades has led to a particular focus on ICT’s environmental impact. Green computing refers to the practice of using computing resources more efficiently while maintaining or increasing overall performance. IT services require the integration of green computing practices such as power management, virtualization, improving cooling technology, recycling, electronic waste disposal, and optimization of the IT infrastructure to meet sustainability requirements.

RELEVANCE TO “GREEN ICT” THEME Information Communications Technology (ICT) industries are currently responsible for about 2% of total greenhouse emissions worldwide. This is set to increase substantially over the next 10-15 years as the adoption of ICT increases exponen-

tially in developing countries (The Climate Group, 2008).Many of the solutions being introduced for reducing the carbon footprint via more efficient energy use worldwide are heavily dependent on Information Technology — for example, improvements in the power grid, “energy-smart” buildings and cities, and so on. In this chapter we address, how we can make our ICT infrastructure products, services and application environmentally sound.

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-834-6.ch047

Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Adopting Green ICT in Business

ADOPTING GREEN ICT IN BUSINESS Measuring Environmental Impact of IT Most respondents and organizations are considering planning, executing a measurement program to better understand environmental impact of IT. Dramatically increased energy use driven by the rapid expansion of data centers has increased IT costs, and the resulting environmental impact of IT, to new levels. Enterprise data centers can easily account for than 50 percent of a company’s energy bill and approximately half of the corporate carbon footprint. In the U.S., the power consumption costs for data center computing and cooling doubled to $4.5 billion between 2000 to 2006. It expected to double again by 2011. Although energy use and its associated cost has been the key driver for green computing, a growing appreciation of the risks of climate change and increasing concerns about energy. In addition to corporate self interest, government regulations will increasingly drive the adoption of green computing and sustainable IT investment and practices. Ecological issues involving IT product and service design, supply chain optimization, and changes in processes to deal with e-waste, pollution, usage of critical resources such as water, toxic materials, and the air shed will need to be more fully addressed. Although these first-wave activities are driven more by cost-reduction-based business value there is growing potential for green IT products and services being the deciding factor in terms of the intangible benefits of “greenness” to the customer. Vendors are now able to position products and services in terms of energy consumption and lower costs, but the real benefit over time may be in positioning on environmental and social responsibility of the company itself.

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FACTORS DRIVING ADOPTION OF GREEN COMPUTING The following trends are impacting data centers, and to a lesser degree, desktop computers, and driving the adoption of green-computing practices: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Rapid growth of Internet Increasing cooling requirements Increasing Energy Costs Restrictions on energy supply access Lower Server Utilization Rates IT impacts on the environment

1. Rapid Growth of Internet The increasing reliance on electronic data is driving the rapid growth in the size and number of data centers. This growth results from the rapid adoption of Internet communications and media, the computerization of business processes and applications. Internet usage is growing at more than 10 percent annually leading to an estimated 20% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in data center demand Dr. Kerry Hinton of Melbourne University’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has said, “It has now become clear that the exponential growth of the Internet is not sustainable.” His concerns relate to Internet equipment energy efficiency and the growing carbon footprint needed to sustain high-speed Internet traffic - especially with growth curves projected for video-on-demand-like services. Dr. Hinton says that while power consumption supporting the Internet today accounts for only 0.5% of the total annual budget, by 2020 it could be 1% (Rick C. Hodgin, 2008). “This will place a major burden on [Australia’s] power infrastructure as well as significantly contribute to green house gas production.”

Adopting Green ICT in Business

2. Increasing Cooling Requirements The increase in server power density has led to a concomitant increase in data center heat density. Servers require approximately 1 to 1.5 watts of cooling for each watt of power used. The ratio of cooling power to server power requirements will continue to increase as data center server densities increase.

3. Increasing Energy Costs Data center expenditures for power and cooling can exceed that for equipment over the useful life of a server. As a US based company expanded its operations to meet business growth demand between 2005 and 2006, it experienced a 2.75 multiple in power costs over a nine-month period. While costs for IT equipment and for infrastructure and energy vary, the trend that costs for infrastructure and energy is fast approaching that of equipment holds true. Data center spending on power and cooling is skyrocketing and rapidly outpacing the equipment spending. According to Gartner Group, an analyst house, the ratio of power and cooling spending to equipment spending has been rapidly growing from less than 10% in 2000 to 100% in 2007 and to anticipated 200% in 2009(David Wang, 2007).

4. Restrictions on Energy Supply and Access The very largest computing complexes, such as data centers, now use more power than some large factories. For example, the five largest search companies now use about 2 million servers, which consume about 2.4 gig watts, according to Ask. com vice president of operations Dayne Sampson (George Lawton, 2007). This is a major reason why companies like Ask.com, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! are building facilities in the Pacific Northwest, where they can tap into relatively inexpensive hydroelectric power generated by

dams constructed on the area’s many rivers. In some crowded urban areas utility power feeds are at capacity and electricity is not available for new data centers at any price (Campbell, D.P, 2009).

5. Low Server Utilization Rates Data center efficiency is a major problem in terms of energy use. The server utilization rates average 5-10 per cent for large Data centers. Low server utilization means that companies are overpaying for energy, maintenance, operations support, while only using a small percentage of computing capacity.

6. Growing Awareness of IT’s Impact on the Environment Carbon emissions are proportional to energy usage. In 2007 there were approximately 44 million servers worldwide consuming 0.5% of all electricity. The increased demand for Information Technology (IT) Services has resulted in world-wide proliferation of data centres with racks of densely packed blade servers. IT currently accounts for 2% of the worldwide carbon footprint, with a 50% increase expected by 2020. More than 11% per year to 340 metric megatons by 2020. In addition, the carbon footprint of manufacturing the IT product is largely unaccounted for by IT organizations. Computers are a significant contributor to global carbon emissions. For the purposes of this paper we only take into account the contribution to emissions from CPU usage (ignoring other resource usage, such as networks and databases, computer construction, transport and decommissioning, and air conditioning). This is obviously a simplification, as air conditioning power consumption can be up to four times the server power consumption. We assume that computer CPU use contributes to carbon emissions due to both a base power consumption (a server turned on, but idle), and due to utilization resulting from a load on the

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Figure 1. Servers and emissions

system. We also assume that 100% of the power is produced from carbon emitting power stations.

IMPLEMENTING GREEN COMPUTING The push for green IT is becoming a big wave among businesses in the world. More and more business owners are becoming aware of the need to implement IT infrastructures that are guaranteed to be “green.” In 2009 alone, leading IT research firms found that environmental safety has become one of the principal standards that big companies worldwide looked for when buying from suppliers (Harmon, R.A, 2009). By 2010, experts foresee that around 75% of all companies will actively include carbon footprint reduction in their IT decisions. It must be pointed out that recognizing the need to adopt green IT is different from actually putting it into action. As of now, most companies, whether big or small, still do not know where to start in green computing. Untold amounts of studies have been conducted on making IT departments more environmentally friendly. As a result, the whole IT industry is replete with information on green strategies, many of which may even clash with other environment-friendly programs.

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Transitioning to green computing has involved a number of strategies to optimize the efficiency of data center operations in order to lower costs and to lessen the impact of computing on the environment. The transitioning to a green data center involves a mix of integrating new approaches for power and cooling with energy-efficient hardware, virtualization, software, and power and workload management. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

New infrastructure for Data centers Use a More Power Efficient Cooling System Product design Virtualization On demand cloud computing

1. New Infrastructure for Data Centers The increased demand for Information Technology (IT) Services has resulted in world-wide proliferation of data centers with racks of densely packed blade servers. Many data centers are over ten years old. Their infrastructure equipment is reaching the end of its useful life. It is power hungry and inefficient. Such data centers typically use 2 or 3 times the amount of power overall as used for the IT equipment, mostly for cooling (Campbell D.P, 2009). The obvious strategy here has been

Adopting Green ICT in Business

to invest in new data centers that are designed to be energy efficient or to retrofit existing centers.

2. Use a More Power Efficient Cooling System Data centers and IT departments are known for big energy-guzzling air conditioning systems. Servers need to be maintained in cool temperature levels at all times. Computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units also ensure that air is efficiently distributed to prevent humidity from developing in network or data center. The problem is that most CRACs available today are designed to work for the entire floor area of data centers. Hence, they consume more energy than necessary. To reduce your CRAC power consumption for green computing, invest in supplemental cooling systems that can be placed in between the rows of servers in data center. Such cooling systems can directly prevent excessive heating in specific rows of servers. Thus, they can minimize the number of times in a day that the bigger CRAC units are required to work on full power. On top of this, you can also apply the latest computer room designs that minimize the hot zones in your data center (Jack Lesley, 2009).

3. Product Design Microprocessor performance increased at approximately 50% CAGR from 1982 to 2002. However, performance increases per watt over the same period were modest. Energy use by servers continued to rise relatively proportionally with the increase in installed base.

4. Virtualization Virtualization has become a primary strategy for addressing growing business computing needs. It is fundamentally about IT optimization in terms energy efficiency and cost reduction. It improves the utilization of existing IT resources while reducing energy use, capital spending and

human resource costs. Virtualization technologies have various important applications over a wide range of areas such as server or application consolidation, secure computing platforms, supporting multiple operating systems, kernel debugging and development, system migration. Virtualization enables increased server utilization by pooling applications on fewer servers. Through virtualization, data centers can support new applications while using less power, physical space, and labour. This method is especially useful for extending the life of older data centers with no space for expansion. Virtual servers use less power and have higher levels of efficiency than standalone servers (Hai Jin, 2008). For large data centers, server usage ranges from 5-10 percent of capacity on average. With virtualization, server workloads can be increased to 50-85 percent where they can operate more energy efficiently. Less servers are needed which means smaller server footprints, lower cooling costs, less headcount, and improved manageability.

5. On-Demand Cloud Computing The term ‘cloud’ first appeared in the early 1990s, referring mainly to large ATM networks. Cloud computing began in earnest at the beginning of this century, just a short eight years ago with the advent of Amazon’s web-based services. Less than two years ago, Yahoo and Google announced plans to provide cloud computing services to some of this country’s largest universities: Carnegie Mellon, University of Washington, Stanford, and MIT. IBM quickly announced plans to offer cloud computing technologies, followed almost at once by Microsoft. More recent entries into the fray include well known companies: Sun, Intel, Oracle, SAS, and Adobe. All of these companies invested mightily in cloud computing infrastructure to provide vendor-based cloud services to the masses. While cloud computing is a metaphor for the Internet, its breadth and range are much more significant and ground-breaking.

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Figure 2. Cost of powering and cooling systems

Cloud computing is a complex infrastructure of software, hardware, processing, and storage that is available as a service. Cloud computing seems to offer some incredible benefits for communicators: the availability of an incredible array of software applications, access to lightning-quick processing power, unlimited storage, and the ability to easily share and process information. All of this is available through your browser any time you can access the Internet. While this might all appear enticing, there remain issues of reliability, portability, privacy, and security (Rich Maggiani, 2009).

BUSINESS COMPUTING IT services are essential to business success. There is increasing pressure to adopt sustainable business practices. Business computing generally requires non-stop operation, 24 hours day and 365 days a year. Moreover, data centers or computer rooms where IT equipment is housed have very high power density in terms of kW per unit area (m2 or ft2) (David Wang, 2007). Simply removing the heat generated by IT equipment requires significant amount of cooling power: over 1/3 of total data center power for cooling according some account (NGERS, 2009) and can be higher

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if best practices are not followed or data center infrastructure is insufficient. Unfortunately from energy consumption and carbon footprint stand point of view, IT equipment packaging and power densities have been constantly increasing and increasing quite dramatically over the past two decades; more than tenfold increase in a decade from a little over 300 watts per equipment footprint (one square foot or 0.0929 square meter) in 1996 to as high as 4000 watts per equipment footprint today. And this power density increase and new server spending also increased in million trend has been predicted to continue in the future as illustrated in Figure 2. In addition to rising global energy costs and capacity limitations, legislative actions are impacting or will impact how data centers operate in terms of energy consumption. In particular, programs such as cap-and-trade are impacting or will soon impact the bottom line of businesses directly.

NATIONAL GREENHOUSE AND ENERGY REPORTING SCHEME (NGERS) In the lead up to the Australian Emissions Trading Scheme (AETS) in 2010 the National Greenhouse

Adopting Green ICT in Business

Figure 3. Ngers Act 2007

and Energy Reporting Scheme (NGERS) became law on 1 July 2008. Under NGERS, companies which emit greenhouse gases (GHG) above designated thresholds, or which produce or consume prescribed amounts of energy, will be required to register with the National Greenhouse and Energy Register and to report their emissions annually. NGERS has three Levels (Scopes) of Reporting (Annie Dang, 2009). Scopes 1 and 2 are mandatory but relate to a small number of companies. Initially in 2008 around 400 companies exceed the reporting thresholds for NGERS (NGERS, 2009). This number will grow to approximately 1000 over the next 3 years as the reporting thresholds are progressively reduced. The third Scope is voluntary and captures the energy use and emissions associated with a company but not directly controlled by it. Scope 3 captures the carbon footprint of a company’s supply chain. NGERS data are also made available to all Australian governments and will therefore exert a strong influence on government policy formulation.

IMPACT OF NGERS ON BUSINESS NGERS requires corporations whose operations surpass government determined thresholds of greenhouse gas emissions or energy consumption, to register and report their data on a yearly basis. In the first round of reporting, corporations whose yearly operations meet or succeed 125kt (125,000 tonnes CO2-e) of greenhouse gas emissions or 500Tj (500 = 1012 joules of energy) of energy, must register to report this information by the 31st of August this year. This is approximately equivalent to an annual expenditure of between $5-10 million on electricity, $1.5-2.5 million on gas or $11 – 13 million on diesel (depending on prices). Registered corporations must then provide the government with a comprehensive report of their 2008-09 data by the 31st of October (NGERS, 2009). When NGERS was released in 2008 it was projected that by the 2010-11 reporting period the legislation would cover around 700 medium to large organisations, it is now looking more like 5000.↜Over time the NGERS thresholds will be

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lowered, meaning that more and more corporations will be required to report their data to government. By the second year of reporting, 2009-10, those that produce 87.5kt of CO2-e or consume 350Tj of energy will be required to report, with the threshold dropping to 50kt CO2-e and 200TJ in the third year.

IT’S ENERGY UTILIZATION AND CARBON FOOTPRINT IT accounts for approximately 2% of total global Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. For servicebased companies, their information technology (IT) and office equipment may account for 30 to 40% of their GHG emissions. Consequently, the purchase and life-cycle management of IT products and services will become major issues in the carbon accounting of many organisations and in their efforts to reduce GHG emissions. Already some businesses are requesting that their partners provide information on carbon dioxide production. One emerging strategy is to purchase electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, or hydro. Google has adopted this strategy, although the low-cost hydro energy it has tapped into has significant environmental drawbacks that offset its attractiveness long term (Harmon R, 2009). IT industry is at the leading edge of a major shift from an obsession with raw compute power to the cusp of becoming obsessed with computer efficiency,” forecasts Kenneth Romans, Senior Vice President of Operations at Fidelity Investments Systems Company. The Australian government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) outlined in the recent Green Paper has an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) at its core, which will affect more than 700 companies based on carbon emissions of over 25,000 tonnes a year. These companies will be required to establish systems and processes to accurately track and report their carbon emissions foot print. Carbon Disclosure Project Report 2007

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found only 10% of Australian companies is able to provide a comprehensive emissions profile that had been externally verified.

CARBON EMISSION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE Carbon emission management software, or CEMS, allows organisations to understand how they are using energy and how they are creating emissions. The software is designed to examine which areas or parts of the organisation are the main culprits of carbon emissions and provide information to help companies decide how to improve energy costs and emission output. It is a systematic approach to collecting and reporting emissions data and is also regarded as a cost-effective method for measuring and reporting on green house emissions by industry analysts. Perth-based company, BMS Solutions, claims to have been the front runner in developing the first reporting software aimed at simplifying carbon emissions reporting across the Australian business landscape. The Cintellate program uses data collection, measurement and reporting functions and was developed to assist companies meet the reporting requirements under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (NGER) Act 2007. Since the release of Cintellate, a variety if CEMS have been introduced to the market and the number of programs available is only expected to increase. CEMS will report on emissions periodically, usually annually, and may either be voluntary or be a statutory requirement to comply with an existing law. Organisations looking to achieve the best results when investing in technology, processes or techniques can use CEMS to point them in the in the right direction to reduce energy and costs (NGERS, 2009). The software provides a framework for collecting and managing an organisation’s non financial data that drives carbon emissions profiles. It also provides a platform to leverage information for

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intelligent business decision making. CEMS solutions are available through retailers but, as the software needs to be regularly updated, online provides a more popular and practical option; the internet provides access to a range of up-to-date information such as conversion factors, country regulations, reporting stands and carbon pricing and offset opportunities and users can update the program on a more standard basis.

CONCLUSION IT organizations for the past decade as the cost of power for data centers have risen rapidly. The focus of the business computing IT initiatives has been on strategies to increase data center efficiency. Therefore, infrastructure, power and workload management, product design, virtualization, and cloud computing strategies have assumed primacy in terms of both strategic and tactical focus. Consumption and level of greenhouse gas emissions, we expect them to start employing a wide variety of new strategies to reduce IT’s environmental footprint.

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About the Contributors

Bhuvan Unhelkar (BE, MDBA, MSc, PhD; FACS) is founding principal of MethodScience.com with notable practical consulting and training expertise. For the past few years, Dr. Unhelkar has been actively involved in researching into Green IT and the environment – and its application in practice, particularly Environmentally Responsible Business Strategies. He is co-designer of the Green Point Method (GpM) with envirAbility and has put together and delivered Green IT Design and Implementation (a two day training course approved by the ACS). He has authored/edited fifteen books in the areas of collaborative business, globalization, mobile business, software quality, business analysis, business processes and the UML. Dr. Unhelkar is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society, Life member of Computer Society of India, Rotarian (PHF) , Discovery volunteer at NSW parks and wildlife, and a previous TiE Mentor. *** Alessia D’Andrea received the M.S. degree in communication science from the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’. She is currently a PhD student in multimedia communication at the University of Udine with a grant sponsored by the Institute of Research on Population and Social Policies of the National Research Council of Italy. She is mainly interested in communication science, social science, risk management, virtual communities, mobile technologies and health studies. Dinesh Arunatileka obtained his Bachelor of Science Honors in Computer Science from University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He started his career as a Management Trainee but later moved in to IT solutions Sales. He obtained his MBA form University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. He shifted his area of interest to Telecommunication sector in 1996 when the Telecommunication industry was de-regulated in Sri Lanka. Initially he was into corporate sales and Account Management and moved up in the ladder in a short period of time. He was serving as Head, Business Development for a leading fixed Telecom Company in Sri Lanka when he left for his PhD to Sydney Australia in the year 2001. In Sydney he was attached University of Western Sydney, as a Teaching Fellow and followed his PhD in the area of Information Systems and the topic for his PhD thesis was “Mobile Transformation of business processes to enhance service delivery in organizations”. Upon completion of his PhD, Dinesh returned to Sri Lanka and joined a leading telecommunication company as General Manager Marketing for its newly acquired fixed lines and broadband Subsidiary. After two years he left telecommunication industry altogether and joined an IT company heading the solutions division offering large IT solutions to the corporate sector where he is currently working. Dinesh has more than 15 research articles to his

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About the Contributors

credit including 2 book chapters and has over 15 years experience in the ICT sector. Dinesh is also a visiting faculty of University of Colombo, School of Computing teaching the Masters degree courses. He has wide research interests in the areas of marketing, telecommunication business models and project management in large IT projects. Walied Askarzai (Bachelor of Economics, MBA) earned his bachelor’s degree from University of Western Sydney and his master’s degree from University of Southern Cross. He is currently pursuing his second Master degree in Applied Statistics from Macquarie University, Sydney. He has experience in lecturing and tutoring introductory economics, human resource management and entrepreneurship both at the undergraduate and post graduate levels. He is currently a lecturer in entrepreneurship at Holmes University. He is also a lecturer in business management and marketing at Academies Australasia. He worked in private sector for three years prior to embarking upon an academic career. Aditya Bates is the Director of m-Objects Pty Ltd which specializes in Software and Services for a Low Carbon Economy. After graduating with M.Sc (Hons) in computer science from University of Wollongong he worked for Unisys in the areas of software development, process development, IT audits and change management. After that he went onto consulting for financial services companies on various IT projects ranging from development of IT strategy, process development and software development. Having worked in IT sector for 15 years his interest are now in Green IT and how smart software can contribute to a low carbon economy? Adriana Beal received her B.S. in electronic engineering and an MBA in strategic management of information systems from two of the most prestigious graduate schools in Brazil, where she authored two ICT books. For the past 10 years has been identifying business needs and determining IT solutions for business problems for a diverse client base that includes major U.S. financial institutions. Webpage: http://2wtx.com/ab. Ishan Bhalla (BTech, MCAD) has over 10 years of professional experience in database, object oriented and application programming for various industries including: real estate, securities, defense, freight and logistics. He is a member of the Australian Computer Society and is currently pursuing his Masters in Information Technology from University of Technology, Sydney. He is always seeking ways of making everyday activities efficient and enjoyable. Siddharth Bhargava has recently been awarded a Masters in Science degree in Advanced Computer Science at the University of St Andrews, United Kingdom. He is also an alumnus of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda India. His interests lie in software engineering, particularly designing and developing enterprise applications and critical systems. His projects include the Green IT project during his bachelors and a dissertation titled “Design by Contract in Agile Development” as a partial requirement for his master’s degree. He was introduced to Green ICT by Dr Bhuvan Unhelkar during the bachelor’s project with VR Software Systems and has since been committed to the Green ICT movement. He worked briefly with Mobile ERP, a local ERP vendor after his Bachelors but is looking forward to start his professional career with better prospects after his master’s.

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About the Contributors

John Brand is co-founder and research director with Hydrasight, and IT market analyst consultancy based in Australia. Prior to founding Hydrasight in 2005, he was senior vice president and industry analyst with global IT research firm, META Group. Kaushal Buch is a VLSI Design Engineer (Currently Engineer-D at the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), a unit of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)) and has been working in the areas of FPGA / ASIC design for five years. The major work related to this chapter was carried out during his association as an ASIC Engineer with eInfochips Ltd., Ahmedabad. His work involves defining SoC architectures for communication IPs, digital design, DSP implementation on FPGA, RTL development, low power design, synthesis and timing closure. Kaushal holds a graduate degree in Electronics and Communications engineering from Nirma Institute of Technology, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India. He is currently pursuing postgraduate degree (Research) in VLSI design from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat, India. His areas of interest are low power VLSI design, low power DSP implementation, SoC micro architecture, DSP implementation on SoCs (FPGAs), high speed computations on chip, design synthesis and timing analysis. Saket Buch completed his Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Ahmedabad Institute of Technology, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. He is currently working as an engineer with Space Applications Centre, a unit of the Indian Space Research Organization, at Ahmedabad, India. His areas of interest are low power design, DSP implementation on FPGA and digital communication techniques. A large part of the work on his chapter was carried out during his undergraduate studies at Ahmedabad Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Otakar Cerba, Ing. et Mgr. works in Geomatics section of Department of mathematics of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Czech Republic. He concentrates above all on questions of digital cartography (application of markup languages in digital cartography, using spatial data modeling in digital cartography and accessibility of digital maps). He is a corresponding member of the Commission on Maps and the Internet of the International Cartographic Association. Otakar Cerba is involved in spatial data harmonization European projects, e.g. Humboldt, Plan4all or SDI-EDU. Karel Charvat, RNDr., is focused on projects connected with new and progressive GIT technologies (e.g. web services, service oriented architecture, sensor technologies, geoportals, metadata and educational activities). He is involved in many European projects, e.g. Humboldt, Plan4all, SDI-EDU etc. Karel Charvat is the former president of EFITA (European Network for Information Technology in Agriculture). Kamlesh Chaudhary (B.E., pursuing Master in IT from University of Technology Sydney) has 25 year+ experience in application architecture, design, development and support. Kamlesh started his career in India as hardware engineer where he developed some microprocessor based system. He then moved to development of real-time on-line systems for mining and power industry. He has worked in India, Singapore and last 14 years he has been in Australia where he worked with IBM, Siemens etc. He has managed development and implementation of several business critical systems successfully.

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About the Contributors

Young B. Choi has a quite diverse international working experience in IT and Telecommunications industry, academia and research arena. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. His main research areas are Telecom Service & Network Managements, Mobile & Wireless Communications Security, Information Analysis and Assurance, and Sustainable/ Green Computing & Communications. He received his innovative Interdisciplinary Ph.D. degree in Computer Networking & Telecom from the Computer Science Telecommunications Program of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Dave Curtis is an Enterprise Architect with 19 years experience in the ICT industry. He has worked across a range of industry sectors in an architecture planning and design capacity. As well as a writing as a contributory author in EA publications Dave is a regular contributor to EA newsgroups and bulletin boards. Educated in the UK Dave now resides in Sydney, Australia. Yogesh Deshpande has worked for over 40 years in ICT, covering wide areas, from programming to project management and training in the industry context, and teaching and research in the higher education sector. He was among the early promoters of Web Engineering, organizing international workshops at the World Wide Web conferences as well as the International Conferences on Software Engineering. He was a founder-editor of the Journal of Web Engineering and continues to be one of its Associate Editors. Yogesh is currently a senior lecturer and Head of Postgraduate programmes in ICT at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Rahul Dubey is an Associate Professor at Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT), Gandhinagar, India. He obtained his bachelors and masters degrees in 1991 and 1993. His PhD is from IIT Roorkee, in the area of programmable logic based motion control. He has worked in area of industrial automation for a period of six years. Recently he has authored a book on “Embedded System Design using Field Programmable Gate Arrays”, which is published by Springer. He has a research grant from Department of Science & Technology on “Reconfigurable Logic for motion control” under the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) Fast Track Proposal for Young Scientists. His research interests include Rapid Prototyping of Digital Systems and Industrial Automation. Pete Foster is editor of the Green IT Review, an online newsletter, based in the United Kingdom. He has more than 25 years experience as an IT industry analyst, working with research companies, including IDC, Ovum and PAC, as well as in marketing roles on the client side. Fernando Ferri received the M.S. degree in electronic engineering in 1990 and the Ph.D. in Medical Informatics from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1993. He is senior researcher of the National Research Council of Italy. He was contract professor from 1993 to 2000 of “Sistemi di Elaborazione” at the University of Macerata. He is the author of more than 140 papers on international journal, books and conferences. His main research interests are: geographic information systems, data and knowledge bases, human-computer interaction, user modelling, visual interfaces, sketch based interfaces, risk management and medical informatics. He coordinated two European research project: MIDIR (FP6, Contract number: 036708) and INCA (FP7, Contract number 070401/2008/507855) and various national projects.

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About the Contributors

Marco Garito has been working in marketing departments of IT companies both in Italy and UK and has been involved in marketing planning for internet business for fixed and mobile solutions: he is currently covering EMEA responsibilities for e-business infrastructure for channel marketing in IBM. He holds a bachelor degree from University of Milan (Italy) and a master degree from University of Technology Sydney (Australia). Deepa Gheewala is a proactive application designer, who is currently working at MiSys as an Expert Software Engineer. She holds a Bachelors degree in Statistics and a Master of Computer Application. She is a Microsoft Certified Professional since 2005. Her experience consists of practical usage of several development tools and technologies. She is adept at the UML and its practice and has delivered training for the same at D.D.I.T. University (Gujarat, India). Her research interest includes designing solutions and greening ICT. She has authored an article on MS SQL FileStream. She is an active member at BDotNet User Community for Microsoft technologies in Bangalore (India). Vivek Gheewala is an IT professional, who is working on windows and web based applications using Microsoft tools and technologies. Currently he is working at UST Global as a Senior Software Engineer. A Bachelor in Chemistry and a Master of Computer Application, he is also an enthusiastic web developer and a gadget passionate. He has been a mentor to students of Gujarat University (India) for their project assignments. He is a regular member at BDotNet User Community for Microsoft technologies in Bangalore (India) and in free time he plays with Photoshop and researches on greening environment. Aditya Ghose heads the Decision Systems Lab at the University of Wollongong, which has, over the last decade, developed a range of solutions in the areas of supply chain management and business process management for organizations such as Bluescope Steel, CSC, NSW State Emergency Services, Pillar Administration, Infosys and a variety of federal government agencies. In addition to these organizations, his research is also funded by the Australian Research Council, Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Japanese Institute for Advanced IT. Prof. Ghose serves on the advisory boards of several SMEs in these areas, both in Australia and Canada. He holds PhD and MSc degrees from the University of Alberta, Canada (he also spent parts of his PhD candidature at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and the University of Tokyo) and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. While at the University of Alberta, he received the Jeffrey Sampson Memorial Award. He has been an invited speaker at the prestigious Schloss Dagstuhl Seminar Series in Germany and the Banff International Research Station in Canada. He has also been a keynote speaker at several conferences, and program/general chair of several others. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, including the SMART and APICS conference series. He will present an executive program on integrated logistics and supply chain management at MGSM jointly with the Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech and CSIRO. Nina Godbole, a CISA, is an IT industry professional, an author, researcher and trainer. Nina works in India with IBM, which is a leading force in Green Thinking and Cloud Computing. Nina’s IT industry work is in the Quality Assurance as well Data Privacy and Regulatory Compliance domain where she guides project practitioners in ensuring regulatory compliance and data privacy controls in their project delivery when applicable.. Nina has many achievements to her credit such as the successful implementation of CMM-I, PCCM and ISO 9001:2000 and planning for BS 7799 Security Certifications. She has

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About the Contributors

helped key client organizations in implementation of the CMMI in India as well as overseas. Nina has extensive audit experience with standards; the PCI-DSS, ISO 9001 and the ISO 27001. Amit Goel is a full time researcher having versatile experience with large and medium enterprises in IT Industry. Amit had founded and spearheaded EffectSoft India Limited, a Software Research Lab and a consulting company providing IT Architecture and Strategy Services. Amit is a Senior Member of IEEE, Member of ACM and Life Member of IoD (Institute of Directors). Prior to becoming a full time researcher, he was leading the Professional Services Group in eBiz Business Unit of USi India. He has also worked as Enterprise Architect, IT Architect and Technical Manager positions with Sapient, Induslogic, IBM Global Services and NetAcross. Magda Hercheui is a senior lecturer at Westminster Business School and an associate researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science, being specialized in the development of systems and services for information and knowledge management, social media, and virtual communities. She currently researches the application of Green ICT for sustainable development, being especially interested in the diffusion of knowledge on sustainability. Heemanshu Jain has over 5 years of IT consulting and implementation experience with major Financial and Telecom majors across the globe. He acquired his Masters degree in the Management of Information Systems at the London School of Economics and his undergraduate degree in Computer Science Engineering at Gujarat University. His subjects of interests include e-Business Strategies, Enterprise Application Integration, CRM Implementations, Green ICT, Business Consulting and Outsourcing. Jan Jezek, PhD. graduated at Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), branch of study Geodesy and Cartography in 2004. His specialization is focused on reference coordinate system operations and its implementations. From 2005 he works as assistant at University of west Bohemia, Department of Mathematics – Geomatics section. He is GeoTools and uDig contributor and till 2007 he is also OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) member. Stepan Kafka, RNDr., is engaged in the company Help Service Remote Sensing, Ltd., Czech Republic as the developer of metadata systems, portal solutions, map applications and implementation of OGC web services. He participates in projects Plan4All (http://www.plan4all.eu), and One Geology Europe (http://www.onegeology-europe.eu/). Krunal Kamani is currently working as an Assistant Professor (Computer Science) Information Technology Center, Anand Agricultural University, Anand . His publication includes 4 papers in international journal, 4 papers in national journals and 15 papers in national conferences/seminars. He received 3rd rank for the best research paper at the national seminar at Shri M & N Virani Science College – Rajkot in the year 2006. Dhaval Kathiriya is currently working as a Professor and Head at Department of MCA at LDRP Institute of Technology and Research, Gandhinagar. His publication includes 4 books, 5 international research papers, 2 projects attended, 11 national/state level conferences/seminars on various topics of IT. He is also involved in syllabus designing of MCA and M.Sc.(I.T.) programmes of Saurashtra Uni-

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About the Contributors

versity and Kadi Sarva Vishwavidyalaya. He is recognized Ph.D. guide in Computer Science at Kadi Vishva Vidyalaya. Tamar Krichevsky, President of Wilton Consulting Group, has more than 25 years of experience in the software industry in product management and technical leadership roles. She specializes in defining and building applications to meet the enterprise needs of Global 1,000 companies. Prior to Wilton Consulting Group, Ms. Krichevsky was the Director of Product Management for Azora Technologies, a startup that provided a design framework for creating enterprise-level service-oriented architectures and implementations. At Azora she created product roadmaps and worked with product development and marketing to keep both organizations in alignment. She came to Azora via several companies that produced a diverse set of products including portfolio management application for corporate R&D, rulesbased enterprise language translation engine, imaging and workflow systems for government agencies, and newspaper systems. Ms. Krichevsky received her MBA from Boston University’s Executive MBA program and her Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science from the University of Maryland. She can be reached at [email protected]. Yi-Chen Lan is the Associate Dean, International in College of Business, the University of Western Sydney. Yi-Chen holds a Bachelor of Commerce - Computing and Information Systems (Honours) degree and a PhD degree from the University of Western Sydney. Dr. Lan teaches systems development, information systems and management, and e-marketing courses in both undergraduate and graduate levels, and is responsible for managing business internship projects at the postgraduate level. Prior to his current academic work, Yi-Chen served in the industries for 5 years, wherein he held senior management responsibilities in the areas of information systems and quality assurance programs in a multinational organisation. Yi-Chen’s main R&D activities/fields include conversational knowledge management in professional service firms, knowledge management, global transition process, global information systems management issues, globalisation framework development, business process reengineering, green ICT, carbon emissions in business processes and production, student learning experience and performance. Amit Lingarchani is an IT Consultant with 3 years of experience in ICT industry. He is Software Development Life Cycle expert and is an ongoing member of Australian Computer Society. Amit has experience in handling projects within a mortgage domain. He has also authored chapters and articles within mobile business domain. He has completed his Masters in Computing from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Mohammed Al-Maharmeh has over 20 years of experience in application software development were he played varying roles, such as Solutions Architect, Projects Manager, Analysis and Design roles. During his work experience he used many application software development methodologies that gave him an idea about the importance of using these methodologies during the implementation of different projects and the advantages/disadvantages of using such methodology in one project over another and impact of using these methodologies by different project stakeholders. Academically, Mohammed has earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees from University of Western Sydney (UWS) in the area of information technology. He is currently at his final stage in completing his PhD in the area of applying a composite process framework for application software development at UWS. Mohammed also teaches and tutors at University of Technology Sydney and University of South Queensland (USQ-CBC), Mo-

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About the Contributors

hammed is a member of the Emerging Technologies sub-group with Advanced enterprise Information Management Systems (AeIMS) and Mobile Internet Research and Applications Group (MIRAG) research groups at the University of Western Sydney. He is also a full member of Australian Computer Society. Ekata Mehul is working as Training Coordinator with eInfochips, ASIC Division, India. She is currently undergoing her Ph. D. in the area of “Wireless Sensor Networks”. She has been working as an Academician for last 14 years and has finished her M. Tech with specialization in the area of Information & Communication Technology. She is author of couple of Papers and also a Chapter on “Security in Adhoc Networks”. She has been a dedicated teacher always and a helping hand to the society for the field of ICT. Currently still associated with academics, as she is a Visiting Professor at DAIICT. She is also an executive member for “Computer Society of India, Ahmedabad Chapter” and a life member for IETE and other professional bodies. Saugato Mukerji is an experience engineer in steel and other heavy industries. He holds a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata and a Master of Computer Science degree from the University of Wollongong. He has interests in identifying common ground between energy optimization and supply chain solutions. He conducts collaborative research with the Decision Systems Lab at the University of Wollongong. Saugato with Prof Aditya Ghose has authored the SCOA methodology. They have presented a number of papers using this methodology to show achievement real energy efficiency gains and yield improvements at several supply chain, Energy Efficiency and Sustainability related conferences. Makis Marmaridis, is an e-learning and web technology expert and the founder and Managing Director of IMTG, a Sydney-based IT Services company with national and international clientele. He is passionate about business and technology and his focus is on putting together and supporting revolutionary systems that deliver tangible business benefits. Makis brings with him a unique blend of experience in both proprietary and Open Source systems having consulted for medium and large businesses in Australia and New Zealand over the last 12+ years. Makis enjoys constant learning and personal growth, he plays the piano and is a keen follower of the GTD methodology for personal productivity and effectiveness. Jay (Luv) M. Nathadwarawala holds an Honours bachelor’s degree in Medical Engineering from Cardiff University, UK. After taking experience in the industry, he went on to do an MBA from Cardiff University. His choice of specialization subjects were Global Marketing, Advanced strategy and International Sustainable Business. His current research interests include rehabilitation, medical sustainability, and sustainability in emerging economies, including advancing the principles and practices of sustainability to international business. Jay works and lives in both emerging and developed economies, and is currently a director of Daivum Group Pvt Ltd, a family company diversifying and developing medical tourism around the world. Khush M. Nathadwarawala holds an Honours bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering and then has done MSc in International Health Management from Imperial College of London. Currently Khush is working with a boutique management consultancy in central London with business links with Africa, USA, China, Australia, and the Far East. His involvement as a director at Daivum Group Pvt.

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About the Contributors

Ltd also gives him first hand experience in dealing with business problems related to sustainability in both developed and developing countries. Tom Oh is an associate professor in the Department of Networking, Security and System Administrations (NSSA) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University in 1991 and received M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 1995 and 2001, respectively, while working for telecommunication and defense companies. He has published numerous technical articles and holds several patents as well as several teamwork and teaching awards from Nortel and Ericsson. Sargam Parmar received his M.Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati, India (IIT-G) with specialization in Digital Signal Processing, in 2004. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Electronics & communication Engineering Department at U.V. Patel College of engineering, Kherva, Gujarat, India. He has eleven year of teaching experience. He is a member of Board of Studies at U.V.P.C.E- EC Department. He is also a life member of ISTE. Pankaj Parsania is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the College of Food Processing Technology and Bio Energy, Anand Agricultural University, Anand. He has completed his M.Sc. (I.T.) in 2004 from Saurashtra University. His publication includes 5 papers in national conferences/seminars. Patrizia Grifoni received the M.S. degree in electronic engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. She is researcher of the National Research Council of Italy. From 1994 to 1999 she was contract professor of “Elaborazione digitale delle immagini” at the University of Macerata. She is the author of more than 90 papers on journal, books and conferences. Her main research interests are in human computer interaction, visual interfaces, sketch based interfaces, accessing web information, geographic information systems. Jeffrey Phuah is the Information Technology Manager at the Carlton Football Club and has been instrumental in strategically architecting the Club’s IT infrastructure since 2002. His interest in environmental management has led him down the path of Green ICT; seeking practical and potential application of Green IT in the business environment and its contribution to the organization’s triple bottom line. Graeme Philipson is founder and research director of Envirability, a sustainability market analysis company based in Sydney, Australia. He is a former research director with ICT consultancy Gartner, and has a 25 years experience as a high technology journalist, analyst and consultant. Graeme is a veteran journalist who has been writing about computers since 1983. After a stint with analyst company Yankee Group he became editor of Computerworld in 1987 and 1988, and was founding editor of IBM mainframe magazine True Blue in 1989. He was a columnist for Computing Australia for many years before founding Strategic Publishing Group (SPG) with Alistair Gordon in 1992. SPG's best known title was MIS magazine, which within five years was also being published in NZ, Singapore and India. The company was sold to John Fairfax in 1999, just before the tech crash. Graeme was founding editor of MIS, and editorial and research director of SPG. He started and ran SPG's market research division, which was sold to Gartner in 1997 before being reacquired just in time to be sold to Fairfax. He joined Gartner for two years as part of the deal. Graeme had a weekly column in The Australian's IT section

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About the Contributors

from 1992 to 1997, and in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age from 1998 to 2009. He is in demand as a conference speaker, and is writing a book on the history of software. Envirability (formerly called Connection Research) is his new market research company. Winner of the Kester Cranswick Lifetime Achievement Award for ICT journalism in Australia in 2005, Graeme is the author of over 2000 articles on ICT and over 50 market analysis reports. Alok Pradhan completed is Bachelors degree in Environmental Management in December2008 at Macquarie University in Sydney, and is currently studying his Masters in Environmental Management at the same institution. He is aiming to specialize in Environmental policy in water and the atmosphere, as well as the renewable energy sector. Somesh Rajain has more than 4 years of experience in ASIC & FPGA design cycle. He has worked with design & verification team for different standard based products namely MIPI-DSI, MIPI-CSI, MIPI-DPI, MIPI-DBI, I2C, SPI, RS232 and DDR2 memory system. He worked on FPGA design projects for technology based on USB interface, SPI, MIPI-CSI, MIPI-DSI, MIPI-DPI, Memory andI2C etc. He worked on ASIC design projects for technology based on MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface). He is proficient in Verilog and VHDL. He has good understanding of design & verification environment development using HDL (Verilog). He has experience in gate level and chip level verification with simulator QuestaSim, and NC-verilog. He has good experience with FPGA Tools like Xilinx XST (ISE-11.2 and ASIC tools Design compiler and RTL compiler). Somesh holds Bachelor’s of Engineering (Electronics and communication engineering). Ramesh Balachandran holding Bachelor of Engineering (Honors) majoring in Computer Engineering from Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia. . He has more than six years experience in many Business Processes Reengineering projects and Information systems projects in Telecommunications Company. Presently he is involving in business processes projects under the company transformation program of a Telecommunication service providing company. He has earned his PMP credential from Project Management Institute. Kinjal Ramaiya is a student of management studies at Symbiosis International University based in Pune, India. He pursued his graduation in Computer Applications from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. During his graduation, Kinjal got a chance to work under Dr. Bhuvan Unhelkar. He along with Vivek Shrinivasan and Siddharth Bhargava demonstrated how the idea of Green ICT could be implemented in an IT industry. Apart from his research interests Kinjal is a computer security professional. Dilupa Ranatunga obtained his first degree in Bachelor of Information and Communication Technology from University of Colombo School of Computing, Sri Lanka. He has organized many large scale projects to enhance the knowledge of Information Technology of school children in Sri Lanka. He was also instrumental in developing e-business strategies for several leading Sri Lankan companies. He started his career as a Systems Engineer in a multinational shipping company but later moved in to the Telecommunication sector in Sri Lanka. Currently he is working for a Leading IT company in Sri Lanka as a Business Development Manager.

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About the Contributors

Michael Rosen, Chief Scientist, Wilton Consulting Group and Director of Enterprise Architecture at the Cutter Consortium is an accomplished architect and technical leader with extensive experience in enterprise architecture (EA), service-oriented architecture (SOA), product strategy and development, software architecture, consulting and mentoring, distributed technologies, and industry standards. Mr. Rosen’s 30 year career has spanned startups, CTO roles, chief architect, and product architect for industry leading middleware products, software development, and hardware design. Throughout his career, Mr. Rosen has been a frequent technical speaker and author for conferences in more than a dozen countries as well as for in-house technical and executive sessions. He has authored dozens of articles and reports and is coauthor of Applied SOA: Service-Oriented Architecture and Design Strategies; Developing E-Business Systems and Architectures: A Manager’s Guide; and Integrating CORBA and COM Applications. Mr. Rosen is active in industry standards with the OMG and is Editorial Director for the SOA Institute. He can be reached at [email protected]. Jungwoo Ryoo is an Assistant Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University-Altoona. His main research interests include information assurance and security, software engineering and computer networking. He conducts extensive research in software security, network/cyber security, security management (particularly in the government sector), software architecture, Architecture Description Languages, object-oriented software development, formal methods and requirements engineering. He is the recipient of major state and federal grants and also has a significant industry experience working with Sprint and IBM in architecting and implementing secure, high-performance software for large-scale network management systems. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Kansas in 2005. San Murugesan is an adjunct professor in the School of Computing and Mathematics at the University of Western Sydney (Australia); a senior consultant with the Cutter Consortium’s Business-IT Strategies advisory service; and an independent business, IT, and education consultant with BRITE Professional Services. Dr. Murugesan has vast experience in academia and industry, and his expertise and interests include green computing, Web 2.0 and 3.0, cloud computing, mobile computing, Web engineering, e-business, and information systems. He is the editor of Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0, and X.0: Technologies, Business, and Social Applications (Information Science Reference, USA, 2009) and Cloud Computing (Taylor and Francis, 2010). He has published extensively and guest edited journal special issues. He is a sought after speaker and has been offering training and executive education programs. He is fellow of the Australian Computer Society (ACS), and a distinguished visitor and tutorial speaker of the IEEE Computer Society. Dr. Murugesan currently serves as Editor of IEEE IT Professional magazine and associate editor for five other international journals. Dr. Murugesan served in various senior positions at Southern Cross University and the University of Western Sydney (Australia), and the Indian Space Research Organization (Bangalore, India). He also served as senior research fellow of the US National Research Council at the NASA Ames Research Center. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Zahra Saeed is Master Student at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and has a couple of years of experience in graphic design, software development processes and use of Agile approach in requirements analysis and modeling. Zahra has earned her Bachelor degree in Software Engineering.

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About the Contributors

Heinz Schmidt is Professor of Software Engineering at RMIT University where he is the Director of e-Research and Head of Distributed Software Engineering and Architecture. Heinz is also an adjunct professor at Maelardalen University in Sweden and Monash University in Australia. Heinz received his PhD from Bremen University, Germany. He has over 30 years experience with component-based and object-oriented architecture, systems and languages in practice, research and education. Heinz has published over 120 refereed articles, supervised over 25 higher-degree research (Masters and PhD) students, and lectures in software engineering, distributed systems and enterprise architecture. Prior to RMIT Heinz held positions at Monash University, the CSIRO and ANU in Canberra, at the German National Research Centre for Information Technology and the International Computer Science Institute at the University California, Berkeley. Prof Schmidt has led large university-industry research collaborations, in the European ESPRIT program and the Australian Collaborative Research Center program, among others with SIEMENS, ABB, DEC and Olivetti, IBM and others. Harsh W. Sharma, Chair of the Object Management Group Sustainability SIG, is a sustainability architect who supports strategic architecture services at a tier 1 financial services company. He is a passionate supporter and contributor to the OMG’s standards. Dr. Sharma started development of a globally relevant Sustainability Assessment Model (SAM) standard and serves as Chair of the Sustainability Group. This group is also in the process of developing a global knowledge base of all known green and sustainability standards. He is on the board of directors at OMG. Some of the clean energy activities Dr. Sharma has been involved in include development of artificial trees that will harness solar and wind power to generate electricity. This project is leveraging biomimicry concepts and nanotechnology to develop and manufacture solar trees that may also serve as sensors for detection and communication of disease/bioterrorism outbreaks and hazmat release. Previously, Dr. Sharma has worked as an enterprise architect consultant for tier 1 financial services, brokerage, insurance, and pharmaceuticals, promoting the use of a model-driven approach to address the chasm between business and technology. His engagements frequently involved presenting the above approach to senior business and IT executives to help achieve business agility. Dr. Sharma has a PhD in genetics from the University of Leeds, England, and later worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University’s School of Medicine. He can be reached at [email protected]. Rahul V Shah has 10+ years of experience in the field of ASIC design and verification. Presently he is the Division Head for ASIC Division at eInfochips and focuses on efficient solutions for complete product development cycles for FPGA and ASIC based product solutions. Rahul worked on various stages of ASIC/FPGA life cycle starting from architecture, design, synthesis and verification and has worked on various verification languages and products for networking, video, automotive and processor related solutions. Rahul has worked is USA for companies like IBM, Chameleon Systems and Sonics prior to joining eInfochips in Ahmedabad. Rahul graduated with a BE in Electronics and communication Engineering. He is also a member of Board of Studies in Electronics and Communication at Nirma University and DDU university. Chetan Shingala has more than 9 years of experience in ASIC & FPGA design cycle. He has worked with design & verification team for different standard based products namely PCI, PCI Express, DDR2 and NAND Flash Memory system. He worked on FPGA design projects for technology based on BT-656 Interface, USB interface, SDRAM, NAND Flash and I2C etc. He is proficient in Verilog. He has good

12

About the Contributors

understanding of verification environment development using HDL (Verilog). He has experience in gate level and chip level verification with simulator QuestaSim, and NC-verilog. He has good experience with FPGA Tools like Xilinx XST (ISE-11.2 and ASIC tools Design compiler and RTL compiler). He has also worked for board bring-up and silicon validation on tester. Chetan holds Bachelor’s of Engineering (Power Electronics engineering). Keith Sherringham has over 15 years experience in business consulting to corporations and government on business strategy, operation and management. He is a noted author and speaker on the business application of ICT, including the standardisation of knowledge workers. Keith is known for is thought leadership in real time decision making and mentors CEO and Boards within Not for Profits. Vivek Shrinivasan is a self motivated programmer, web developer and designer yet to pursue a professional career. Vivek has had a brief experience with Mobile ERP as an IT technical supporter and advisor dealing with manipulating ERP modules and databases. He worked on a project initiated by Sir Bhuvan Unhelkar during the course of Bachelors degree in Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda in collaboration with VR Software Systems Pvt. Ltd, on developing a framework for organizations to help them go green. He, along with two other team members developed software demonstrating the Green ICT concept for an IT network infrastructure. Vivek is a recent graduate from the University of St. Andrews in Management and IT and an enthusiast in wanting to develop entrepreneurial skills to market himself. Chitra Subramanian holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from University of Madras. She had worked as a Faculty most of her Professional Tenure, and had also worked as a Tutor in University of Western Sydney. Green ICT is her future area of research interest. Tagelsir Mohamed Gasmelseid is an Associate Professor at the department of Information Systems, College of Computer Sciences & IT at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. His research interests are multi-agent systems, agent based simulation and modeling, e-business, MIS, DSS and Hydroinformatics. He visited many international events as a keynote speaker and presenter and contributed to some referred journals. Currently he is working on the MIS component of the RRP4 project on rehabilitation and resettlement and is the editor of the "Handbook of Research on Hydroinformatics: Technologies, Theories & Applications". Amit Tiwary is an experienced designer and implementer of simple solutions for complex business challenges. Currently working with a utilities industry as a business solution architect, he provides a constructive bridge between Information technology and business. This expertise will enable positive transformation and “future proof” the business. As these challenges are international, my experience with leading diverse teams using global business model and international networks ensures that business solutions will be pragmatic and adoptable in all conditions. His other experience includes consultancy and project management with tier one outsourcing companies such as EDS, IBM, Cap Gemini, software vendors Siebel and upcoming companies such as Infosys, in industries including banking, utilities, finance, manufacturing and telecommunication.

13

About the Contributors

Vu Long Tran works for the IT research firm Hydrasight and IT sustainability firm Connection Research (now Envirability Research) where he specialises in IT ethics, green IT and IT privacy. He earned a scholarship and graduated with a degree in Information Technology at Swinburne University, Hawthorn. He is an active member of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) where he is a committee member with the Committee on IT ethics, e-Commerce, Young professionals in IT and Tea House Toastmasters club. He is currently undertaking his post-graduate through the ACS’s Computer Professional Education Program. He is also actively volunteers with a number of local community groups including Mobil Environment Improvement Plan Steering Committee, Altona Lions Club, Altona State Emergency Services (SES), Hobsons Bay City Council Youth Voice Committee, Privacy Victoria Youth Advisory Group, YMCA and Youth Affairs Council of Victoria. His extracurricular interests include running, reading, exploring and having adventures. Bharti Trivedi is a seasoned professional with over 14 years rich experience in I.T. Education Field; an Adjunct Faculty in the Faculty of Science at the Maharaja Sayaji Rao University , Vadodara; an independent business, IT and education consultant. She is also an environmentalist and pursuing research (PhD) in Environmental Intelligence in the business corporate ecosystem using emerging ICT. Ms. Bharti's expertise and interests include green computing; Environmental Intelligence and IT project management. She has published many research papers. Ms Bharti is a distinguished visitor speaker of IIMM. She is a recipient of many national level awards. She is life member of Computer Society of India, Indian Institute of Materials Management and Indian Science Congress. Paresh Virparia is currently working as a Senior Reader in the Department of Computer Science of Sardar Patel University. He is recognized Ph.D. guide in computer science at Sardar Patel University and Kadi Vishva Vidyalaya. His publication includes 2 papers in International Journal, 4 papers in National Journals and 17 papers in national conferences/seminars. Rasika Withanage obtained his Higher National Diploma in Management from the Association of Business Executives, UK. He started his career as a Corporate Sales Manager and moved in to Marketing Communications and Brand Management. Recently, he obtained his MBA from the University of Wales, UK for the research of ‘Creating value to brands by redefining brand rules in mobile phone industry in Sri Lanka’. Rasika gained experience by serving in the fields of Leisure, Banking, Media, PR, Advertising and Telecommunications for over a period of 12 years. Currently he is working as Manager, Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Responsibilities and Public Relations, for US based Global Software development and IT consultation Organisation. Daniel Younessi holds a B.A. in Economics from University of Connecticut. Daniel is a strong believer of the fact that the “Green Revolution” will only succeed if it is underpinned by sound economics. Therefore, his current areas of interest and research are exploring into the intersection between economics and the environment. Through his writings, he works to help establish this basis whether relative to sustainable energy systems, transportation or green ICT.

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15

Index

A abstract data type (ADTs) 92 Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) 369 advanced micro devices (AMD) 516, 520 Advanced Power Management System (APM) 369 agricultural sectors 594, 596, 600 air conditioning power consumption 645 air conditioning systems 587 Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) 342 antibiotics 473 application architecture 11, 13, 14, 15, 21, 28 Application Service Provision (ASP) 428 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) 622, 628 Ask.com 645 Australian Computer Society (ACS) 349 Australian Football League (AFL) 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353 Australian Labor, the 592 automatic Meter Reading (AMR) 378, 379, 382

B Balanced Score Card (BSC) 183, barium 473 Base transceiver station (BTS) 323, 324, 325, 326, 328, 329, 331 basic alignment (BA) 34, 35 Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) 193, 194 Billing Support Systems (BSS) 198 biodiversity 631 Biomimicry 276, 277, 280, 281

Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) 265, 266, 267, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 277, 278, 279 brominated flame retardants (BFR) 482 business analysts (BAs) 43, 44, 48, 49, 50 Business Architecture 27 business friendly systems 594 Business Intelligence (BI) 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 235 Business Motivation Model 26, 27, 28 business motivation model (BMM) 16, 17, 18, 26, 28 Business Processes Management (BPM) 197, 199, 202, 212, 213 Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) 339, 340, 341, 347 Business Process Improvements (BPI) 433, 445 Business Process Management (BPM) 19, 139 Business Rule Engine (BRE) 340, 341, 347 Business Rule Service (BRS) 340

C Capability Maturity Model (CMM) 132, 142, 143, 145, 183, Capital expenditure (CAPEX) 323, 326, 331 Carbon 283, 284, 285, 289 carbon dioxide (CO2) 63, 64, 317, 318, 319, 324, 327, 328, 331, 334, 349, 351, 385, 386, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 402, 404, 407, 408, 410, 417, 418, 420, 533, 583, 584, 585, 586, 589, 590, , 593, 596, 598, 605, 607, 608, 613, 615, 617, 623, 627

Volume I pp. 1-347; Volume II pp. 348-651 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Index

Carbon Emission Management Software (CEMS) 413, 414, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429 Carbon Emission Management solutions (CEMS) 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469 Carbon Emissions 73, 81 Carbon Emission Software Management (CEMS) 132, 140, 145 carbon footprints 62, 63, 470, 607, 608, 611, 616 carbon management software 538 Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) 123, 125, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596, 598, 603, 604, 605 Carbon Trading 430 Carbon Trust 283 cathode ray tube (CRT) 245, 246, 247, 248, 483, 496, 497, 503, 609 central business districts (CBDs) 345 central processing unit (CPU) 515, 516, 519, 520 Chief Executive Officer (CEO) 367 Chief Green Officer (CGO) 55 civil societies 621, 622, 625, 628 climate changes 593, 596, 598, 599, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609, 615, 616, 617, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 639, 641 climate change summit, the 607 Climate Research Unit (CRU) 117 Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) 170, 172, 179, 180, 181, 371 Cloud Computing 432, 434, 435, 436, 438, 442, 445 collaborative intelligence (CI) 94, 95 complementary metallic oxide semiconductor (CMOS) 515, 522 complex event processor (CEP) 337 compound annual growth rates (CAGR) 471, 644, 647 contact centres 549 continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) 537, 538, 539, 544, 545, 592, 598, 599

16

coral reefs, the 622 Corporate Average Data Center Efficiency (CADE) 370, 371 corporate social responsibility (CSR) 6, 223, 351, 607, 608, 609, 617 cultural changes 632 customer information management (CIM) 93 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 83, 85, 91, 139, 198, 526, 531, 533, 633, 636

D Daivum Rehabilitation (DR) 276 Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCIE) 370, 371 data centers 514, 519, 520, 581, 587, 589 Data Harmonization 316 Decentralisation 69, 70, 71, 78 decision making processes 622, 627 Decision support system (DSS) 235 Dematerialisation 250, 254 Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) 593 Department of Climate Change (DECC) 593, 594, 596, 604 Department of Energy (DOE) 178, 293, 365, 376 distributed constraint satisfaction (DCSP) 186, 187, 188 distributed constraint satisfaction optimization problem (DCSOP) 187, 188 Document Type Definition (DTD) 309, 310 Dynamic Coalition on Internet and Climate Change (DCICC) 373 Dynamic Distributed Constraint Optimisation Problems (DynDCOP’s) 188, 189 dynamic realignment 29 dynamic voltage frequency scaling (DVFS) 515, 516, 521

E e-bill payment 525 e-bills 525 e-businesses 523 Ecodesign 276, 280, 281 eco-friendly processes 581, 582

Index

e-commerce 538 economists 608 eco-system 257, 259, 260, 261 effect consistency (EC) 35 effect entailment (EE) 34, 35 Elasticity 105, 106, 107, 112, 115 electricity markets 507 Electric Power System (EPS) 508 electromagnetic interference (EMI) 477 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) 524, 531, 533 electronic document and records management (EDRM) 632 Electronic Meter Reading (EMR) 379 Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) 56, 57, 64, 135, 170, 178, 372, 375 Electronic waste (E-waste) 243, 244, 246, 252, 254, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 495, 498, 499, 500, 503, 525, 644 emissions cap 593, 596 emissions trading system (ETS) 425, 426 energy consumption 608, 609, 610, 614, 616 energy efficiency 559, 643, 644, 647 Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) 323, 331 energy saving 559 energy shortages 621 energy-smart buildings 643 enterprise architecture (EA) 1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 20, 24, 25, 27, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 455, 458 enterprise resource planning (ERP) 20, 21, 139, 579, 580 enterprise servers 514 enterprise service bus (ESB) 339, 347 environmental credentials 559 environmental friendly companies 607 Environmental Intelligence (EI) 83, 84, 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 97, 220, 226, 232, 233, 234, 239, 240, 241, 385, 386, 402 Environmentally Intelligent System (EIS) 437, 438, 439, 440, 441 environmentally responsible business strategies (ERBS) 214, 215, 219, 220, 221, 223, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 239, 241, 356, 363

environmentally sound manner (ESM) 491 environmentally sustainable design (ESD) 350 Environmental Management Information System (EMIS) 59 Environmental Management System (EMS) 227, 232, 492 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 56, 178, 182, 365, 370, 374, 375, 376, 584, 590, e-procurement 525 e-settlements 525 Essential Value 107, 108, 115 European Spatial Data Infrastructure (ESDI) 311 European Technology Platforms (ETP) 509 Event Driven Architecture (EDA) 334, 335, 336, 338, 339, 341, 345, 346, 347 Exchange Value 105, 107, 115 extreme weather 621, 622

F Farmers Association, the 595, 596, 605 Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) 447, 458 feeder terminal units (FTU) 511 Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) 368 Financial Management Information Systems (FMIS) 139 flexible working processes 632 Focus Group on ICTs and Climate Change (FGICT&CC) 372 food systems 639 FPGA 405, 407, 408, 409 full alignment (FA) 34, 35

G game theory 547, 553, 556, 557 gas distribution systems 567, 568, 570, 574, 575, 577 Geography Markup Language (GML) 309 geoinformation technologies (GIT) 303, 304, 305, 309, 310, 313 Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) 206 Global e-Sustainable Initiative (GsSI) 251 Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) 311, 623, 628

17

Index

Global Positioning System (GPS) 332, 333, 334, 345, 347 Global Positioning System Receiver (GPSR) 334 Global system for mobile communications (GSM) 319, 325, 331 Google 645, 647, 650 government policy innovations 607 Graphical User Interface (GUI) 369 green 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 green architecture 547 green audits 59, 60, 64 green balanced scorecards 546, 547 green computing 480, 504, 643, 644, 646, 647 Green Computing Impact Organization, Inc. (GCIO) 371, 374 green-computing practices 644 green credentials 581 green design 547 green devices 513 greened alignment 633 greened technology 632 Green Electronics Council (GEC) 372 Greener IT Maturity Model (GIMM) 176, 180, 183 Green Grid (GG) 372 greenhouse gas emissions 585, 592, 593, 594, 596, 597, 598, 600, 601, 602, 603, 643, 649, 651 greenhouse gases (GHG) 63, 146, 148, 215, 224, 227, 236, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 249, 250, 251, 254, 267, 269, 348, 355, 413, 414, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 426, 427, 461, 463, 469, 472, 479, 581, 582, 583, 585, 589, 590, 592, 593, 594, 596, 598, 601, 604, 608, 611 Greenhouse Gas Protocol 416, 429 green information and communication technologies (ICT) 42-50, 65-82, 98, 99, 100, 103, 109, 110, 111, 112, 116-168, 184, 197, 213, 256-264, 282, 283, 284, 287,

18

288, 289, 290, 291, 296, 297, 301-312, 314, 317, 348, 349, 350, 351, 353, 364, 365, 366, 367, 371, 373, 431-438, 441457, 470, 475, 477, 523, 535-543, 546, 547, 550, 551, 556, 557, 558, 559, 581, 582, 587, 588, 589 greening processes 632, 633, 635, 638, 639 green initiatives 30, 38, 39 Green Integrated Supply Chain Management (GISCM) 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532 green IT 52, 53, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 146, 167, 168, 170, 171, 172, 174, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 233, 237, 240, 303, 315, 332, 333, 342, 350, 351, 353, 354, 644, 646 green IT products 644 Green mobiles 237 green policies 146, 162, 549 green products 549 green strategies 547 green supply chains 523 Green Technology 253, 254 Green Telco 197, 199, 200, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213 greenwash 61, 64 Green Web Services (GWS) 225

H hard disk costs 568 healthcare 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478 heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) 369, 474, 567, 580 high-speed broadband 612 Humboldt Alignment Editor (HALE) 311 Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 336

I incentive-driven compliance (IDC) 10 Independent Component Analysis (ICA) 385, 386, 387, 389, 390, 391, 392, 402, 403 independent components (ICs) 385, 386, 392, 394, 395, 398, 402, 403 Industrial Ecology (IE) 277, 281

Index

information and communication technologies (ICT) greening 630, 631, 634, 639, 640, 642 information architecture 13, 21, 28 Information Asymmetry 281 Information Exchange 69, 70, 72, 82 Information Problem 115 Information Systems (IS) 147, 148, 168 Information Technology (IT) 1, 2, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 25, 26, 27, 28, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 146, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 459, 460, 468, 469 infrastructure 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 25, 28, , 357 Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) 342 Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) 301, 303, 304, 306, 307, 309, 311, 312, 314, 315 Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) 251 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 347, 509, 511, 512 Integrated Supply Chain Environments (ISCE) 524, 534 intelligent motor controller (IMC) 612 interactive voice recognition (IVR) 90 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 432, 433, 622, 629 International Data Corporation (IDC) 251 International Electro technical Commission (IEC) 508, 509, 512 International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 598 International Telecommunications Union (ITU) 199, 206, 212, 213, 215, 230, 244, 320, 330, 331 Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 373, 375 internet protocol TV (IPTV) 610 Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) 366 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) 366, 367, 373, 375

Interoperability 301, 311, 316 intra-organizational activities 523 iPods 586 Iterative, Incremental & Parallel (IIP) 539, 545 IT infrastructures 643, 646 IT organizations 645, 651 IT services 643, 645, 646, 648 IT vendors 610

K Key Performance Indicators (KPI) 6, 28, 206, 213 Key Results Indicators (KRI) 206, 213 knowledge management (KM) 290, 298, 534, 630, 635, 636, 637, 641 Kyoto Protocol 592, 593, 595, 596, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603, 605, 606

L Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) 277, 281 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) 220, 221 life-cycles 535, 539, 543 liquid crystal displays (LCD) 247, 248, 609 Local Area Networks (LAN) 137, 367

M management information systems (MIS) 630, 632, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640 manufacturing execution systems (MES) 579, 580 marketing strategies 549 Master Data Management (MDM) 92, 96 mathematical IT models 598 mercury 473, 474 Metadata 305, 307, 308, 309, 315, 316 Microsoft 587, 589, 645, 647 Micro Wave (MW) 331 Miniaturisation 69, 70, 72 Mobile Data warehousing (DW) 235 mobile phones 513, 514, 516, 522, 582, 583, 586 Mobile Supply Chain Management (MSCM) 238 mobile work technologies 632

19

Index

N National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) 461, 469 National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System Calculator (OSCAR) 123, 125 National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (NGERS) 123, 125, 366, 461, 469 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 508 Network Environmental Measurement System (NEMS) 440 network switches 514 Next Generation Network (NGN) 206, 215 nitrous dioxide (NO2) 623 Nokia 582, 590 non-polluting images 607

O Occupational health and safety (OH&S) 421 Off-site Meter Reading (OMR) 379 Online Analytical processing (OLAP) 86, 95, 235 Ontology 307, 309, 310, 315, 316 Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) 312, 313, 623 Operational expenditure (OPEX) 325, 331 Operational Support Systems (OSS) 198 opposition parties 594 Optimizing Web 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 194, 195 organizational transformation 29, 30 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the 482

P Pattern Engine(PE) 341, 342, 347 personal digital assisstants (PDA) 514, 522 Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) 342, 438, 445 policy implementers 621, 622, 625, 628 policy makers 621, 622, 625, 627, 628 political overheating 633 pollution 644 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) 487, 490, 504, 505, 584

20

Post-Schema Validation Infoset (PSVI) 309, 310 Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) 370, 371 predictive emissions monitoring systems (PEMS) 537, 538, 539, 545, 592, 598, 599 pre-requisite consistency (PC) 35 prerequisite-effect consistency (PEC) 35 pre-requisite entailment (PE) 34, 35 Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) 208 Processor Power Management (PPM) 369, 372

Q Quality of Service (QoS) 367

R Radio Access Network (RAN) 319, 331 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) 73, 74, 238, 356, 363 Register transfer level (RTL) 405, 406, 408, 409, 410 RELAX NG 309, 310 Remote Meter Reading (RMR) 379 RepuTex 593, 594, 605 requests for proposals (RFPs) 135 resource consistency (RC) 35 Resource Dependency theory, the 635 Resource Description Framework (RDF) 310 resource entailment (RE) 34, 35, 38 Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (RoHS) 64 Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations (RoHS) 170, 175, 179 return on investment (ROI) 99, 360, 371, 464, 469 Road Traffic Authority (RTA) 334, 342

S scenario-prerequisite consistency (SPC) 35 scenario-prerequisite entailment (SPE) 34, 35 SDRAM 409 server farms 514 server power consumption 645

Index

Service Level Agreement (SLA) 428 service oriented architectures (SOA) 88, 92, 97, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347 Service Providers (SPs) 368 Simple Storage Service (S3) 342 small and medium enterprises (SME) 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 464 small to medium businesses (SMB) 584 smart grids 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511 social consequences 621 Social Media 298 social networks 622, 625, 626, 627 Society of Information Technology Management (SOCITM) 176 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) 342, 445, 463, 466, 469 software development 535, 536, 537, 539, 540 software implementations 581 Software Oriented Architecture (SOA) 432, 445 solar energy 586 solar panels 586 Spatial Data 301, 304, 306, 311, 314, 315, 316 Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315 stakeholders 470, 475, 535, 621, 622, 624, 625, 627, 628 steel manufacturing companies 559 steroids 473 Straight through processing (STP) 452 strategic alignment 29, 30, 31, 37, 39, 40, 41 Strategy, Infrastructure & Product (SIP) 207 strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) 44 Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) 334, 347 sulfur dioxide (SO2) 623 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) 509, 512 supply chain management (SCM) 238, 240, 523, 525, 526, 528, 529, 633, 636 Supply Chain Management (SCM) 139 supply chain operations 523 supply chain optimsation audit (SCOA) 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 570, 572, 573, 577, 578, 579, 580

supply chains 523, 524, 528, 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 566, 567, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 575, 577, 579, 580 Support Based Distributed Optimisation (SBDO) 186, 188, 189, 190, 191, 194 Sustainability 51, 62, 64, 113, 114, 115, 157, 167, 168, 293, 296, 297, 299 Sustainability Balanced Score Card (SBSC) 176, 177, 180, 181, 183, sustainable 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 25, 26, 27 Sustainable Development 299 Swiss Cheese Model, the 565 System Development Life Cycles 536 System on chip (SOC) 405, 406, 407, 408, 409

T Tablet PCs 632 technology architecture 13, 14, 28 TeleManagement Forum (TMForum) 206, 213 telephonic devices 643 The Climate Group 643 The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) 447 Theory of Relational Practice 150, 151 Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) 133, 145 Total Quality Management (TQM) 59 Total Sustainability Indicator (TSI) 175, 181, 551, 553, 558 Traffic Management System (TMS) 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 342, 344, 345, 346 Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) 366, 373, 375 Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) 334, 336, 347 triple bottom line 4, 27

U Unified Communications 69, 70, 82 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) 370 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 593, 599, 600, 601, 603 United Nations (UN) 593, 606, 622, 629, 630, 641

21

Index

variable speed drives (VSD) 612 very large scale integration (VLSI) 514, 516, 521 video conferencing 632 Virtual Communities 299 Virtualization 358, 363 virtual private networks (VPNs) 137 Voice over IP (VoIP) 367, 368

Web Map Service (WMS) 313 Web Ontology Language (OWL) 310 web services (WS) 477 web technologies 548 Wi-Fi 517, 521 WiMAX 332, 333, 334, 345, 347 wireless local area networks (WLAN) 477 wireless network topology 586 wireless personal area networks (WPAN) 477 work-related journeys 632 workstations 609 world economic forum (WEF) 250 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) 307, 309, 310, 312 World Wildlife Fund (WWF) 371

W

X

waste disposal 607 waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) 9, 56, 63, 64, 170, 179, 371 waste sectors 593 Weather Information Service (WIS) 345 Web 2.0 237, 240, 241, 431, 432, 439 Web 3.0 237 Web Coverage Service (WCS) 313 Web Feature Service (WFS) 313

XML Schema 307, 308, 309, 310, 316

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) 612 US Department of Defence (DoD) 525 US Department of Energy (DOE) 506 Utility Value 101, 104, 115

V

22

Y Yahoo! 645 YouTube 609

Z Zachman Framework 447, 457, 458